Duty of a Guardian
by LadyDae
Summary: Yue was his mistress' guardian and his duty was to protect her. But as he watches his mistress grow, he learns the true definition of what a guardian really is, that there's more to it than just protection. Yue/Sakura.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Okay, so I wanted to do something for fun and once my sister gave me the ok for it, I decided to go ahead and post it. This is all I have written right now. Usually I have a whole story written. But this time I don't and I was feeling spontaneous so here it is. There will be much more to come. It's short, but longer more complex chapters will follow eventually. Expect an update a couple of times a month. I'm calling it a breath of fresh air from Star Wars and a test to see if you like it or whether this is just a waste of my time… It's my first Cardcaptor Sakura fic. By the way, Sakura's around twelve in this.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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**Chapter One  
>Guardian<br>**

Toya and Yukito looked up from what they were doing as they heard the front door open and close abruptly.

"Hey Sakura. You're late…" Toya trailed off as the girl practically ran past them and up the stairs. A few seconds later they heard the door to her room slam shut.

"Is she okay?" Yukito asked concerned.

Toya frowned. "I don't know… I better go check on her."

Toya left and a few minutes later, Kero came flying down the steps. He sat next to Yukito, sighing deeply.

"What's the matter?" Yukito asked.

"I couldn't get anything out of her. She just came into her room and got under her cover crying. When I asked, she wouldn't say and by that time Toya came into the room. Maybe she'll tell him," the toy looking guardian said.

Toya came downstairs a few minutes later with his hands balled into fist, muttering about kids and being mean.

"So?" Kero asked flying up to meet him.

Toya sighed. "The joys of puberty and being a pre-teen…"

"What do you mean?" Yukito asked.

"Well, let's just say Sakura's going through a bit of an awkward stage and her growing magic isn't helping her," Toya said delicately. "Some of the girls at school were being mean to her because of her awkwardness, called her a few names and Sakura's hurt by it."

"What?" Kero said angrily. "That's it. I'm going down there tomorrow. Forget secretiveness. How dare they? Little brats…"

Toya knocked Kero out the air and continued.

"I tried talking to her, but she's not hearing it. I even called Tomoyo and she says Sakura won't even listen to her," Toya said sitting down.

"Want me to try?" Yukito asked.

Toya shook his head. "Don't worry about it. She'll get over it soon enough. You know nothing keeps that monster down. I should know. Besides, I doubt she'd listen if you tried."

Kero went back up to the room to try to talk to Sakura, but she wasn't listening. What had those girls said to Sakura that upset her like this? Whatever it was, he didn't like that it was bothering her so much and he was determined to snap her out of it. It was his duty as her guardian. He made his way to the window a few hours later, just in time to see Yukito leaving the house. He went out the window and swooped down in front of him, ignoring the surprised look on the boy's face as he became his true form.

"Yue," Cerberus said and wings enclosed Yukito before opening back up to reveal the distant moon guardian.

He regarded Cerberus with his arms crossed, agitated at being bothered when he sensed no immediate danger.

"What?" he asked when Cerberus didn't say anything.

"It's Sakura."

"Is she hurt?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No, not physically anyway. But some girls were mean to her in school today and she's been crying in bed ever since she got home."

Yue looked at Cerberus blankly and then said, "And this concerns me how?"

Cerberus sighed. "We're her guardians. She's our mistress, and she's in distress. We have to do something."

"They were only words. They won't kill her. She'll get over it."

"Do you have to be so cold? Could you at least act concerned?" Cerberus asked.

If Yue was bothered, he didn't show it and Cerberus continued, "Come on. She just might listen to you. Heck, your presence alone will be enough to get her attention. Maybe you just being there will help. You wouldn't have to say a word. Just let her know you're there. Come on!

Yue stared, and for a moment Cerberus thought he had gotten through to him before the moon guarian said simply, "No."

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Yue resisted the urge to sigh. He had never signed up for this, no matter how fond of his mistress he had grown. His duty as her guardian was to protect her from danger and harm, not deal with petty and silly issues little girls had. He was going to kill Cerberus for this later. He wouldn't even be here if he hadn't blackmailed him. They were just words, nothing that would truly hurt her. Yue simply watched her outside the window for a moment at first, her back to him as he lied on the bed. What was he supposed to do with a crying mistress? Yue started to back out before she sensed him. He'd deal with Cerberus and keeping his mouth shut later.

"Yue?"

Too late. The girl sat up in bed and looked over to the window, obviously confused. Slowly Sakura came over and opened the window to let him in. She didn't bother closing it afterwards, only crawled back in bed and pulled the covers over her head. Yue sighed. He had kept his end of the deal. He had come and now he would leave. But just as he turned back toward the window, he heard her say, "Yue, what are you doing here?"

He didn't answer, silently hoping that perhaps his mistress wouldn't say anything else and let him leave silently.

"I haven't seen you in a while," Sakura continued. "I missed you."

He heard the bed shift and turned back to look at the girl who was now sitting up in bed looking at him with curious eyes; red, puffy, curious eyes. Not knowing what to say to her confession, he pointed out the obvious.

"You've been crying," he stated.

Sakura looked at him and then sighed as she looked down at her comforters.

"Yeah," she said slowly.

Yue was very aware that Cerberus was behind him, egging him on. To do what? Yue had no idea. He hadn't done much to begin with.

"Yue," she suddenly said after a long pause. "Do you think I'm ugly?"

Whatever Yue was expecting, it wasn't that and for one of the rare moments in his life, he was speechless. From behind him, he could sense his brother felt the same way. How in the world to answer such a question? It was obviously what had been plaguing the girl.

"What gave you the idea?" he finally asked when he was able to compose himself, now genuinely curious.

"Today at school. Some of the girls called me fat and said if I kept eating the way I did, I look uglier than I already did," she whispered.

"How so?"

Sakura sighed and turned to face him as she put her hands on her face. "I've got bumps all over my face. Toya says that it's just a stage. That it's just puberty and it'll eventually clear up but… I'm not sure. Do you think I'm ugly?"

Yue glanced back at Cerberus sit outside the window, obviously tense and knowing that whatever Yue said could either make their mistress feel worse or lift her spirits. And even Yue admitted he wasn't an expert when it came to words. It was likely he would only make her feel worse.

"No," he said to be on the safe side. The less said the better.

"You're just saying that."

So maybe it hadn't been safe… Cerberus urged him to say something else, anything, as Sakura started to lie back down and pull the covers back over her head in dejection.

"It's not the outside that counts, mistress," Yue added getting more and more uncomfortable with the situation

Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's easy for you to say Yue. You're gorgeous."

His mistress' comment caught him off guard to say the least. He had seen her stare at him before out of some sort of admiration and a silly crush that he was sure had passed. But she had never openly admitted something like this before.

"I…" Yue looked to the side in shyness and embarrassment.

"Oh Yue," she said giggling.

Only his mistress could say something like that with such innocence behind it. Yue had the distinct impression Cerberus was snickering outside at his expense. After finally getting over himself, Yue turned back to her.

"Feeling better now?" he asked wanting more than anything to just fly away.

"I guess," Sakura said sighing.

Yue glance back at his brother, who shook his head, and Yue reluctantly turned back to Sakura.

"Mistress," he began.

"Sakura, Yue."

He ignored her correction and continued, "You're not ugly. No one with as kind and pure a heart as you can ugly."

"You mean it?"

"Yes mistress," Yue assured realizing that unless he actually said otherwise his mistress would not believe him. So he added, "You're very beautiful. Don't let anyone make you believe otherwise."

Sakura practically glowed because of his statement, and Yue's lips formed a ghost of a smile. This time Yue didn't look back to see if Cerberus was satisfied and turned to leave regardless of what the sun guardian said.

"Yue."

"Hm?"

"Thank you," Sakura said blushing. "And…"

"Yes?" he asked sensing her hesitancy.

"Don't stay gone so long next time. I'd like it if you came to visit more often."

Yue didn't answer her question and instead left out the window, meeting Cerberus outside. Just like he assumed, he was snickering, really outright laughing at his expense.

"You're gorgeous Yue!" Cerberus teased.

Yue only glared at him and said, "If you don't stop, I'll have you shipped out of the country."

Cerberus sighed. "You never did have a sense of humor. You need to lighten up," he muttered. "By the way, good job."

"I didn't do anything," Yue replied. "I told you she'd get over it."

"Believe me Yue. I think you did a lot more than you realize."

Yue didn't answer, only closed his eyes and said, "If that's all you wanted. I think I'll be leaving now."

Cerberus hesitated before adding, "Sakura's right you know. You should come around more often."

"No thank you. I told you. My duty is to-."

"Yes, I know," Cerberus cut in. "But she'd enjoy it. You know there's more to being a guardian than just protecting her."

Cerberus returned to his disguised form and flew up to Sakura's window without another word. Yue looked after him for a moment, wondering what his brother meant by his words. He retreated to let his false form take control, pondering Kero's words.

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**AN:** Relax. There's more if you want it… I just have to write it. I've never written a Cardcaptor Sakura fic before and it's been years since I've watched the show and I've read little of the manga, but I watched some of the Japanese anime version and remembered how much of a crush I used to have on Yue and how I loved the dynamic between the Sakura and Yue. This will eventually be a romance, but only after canon and will progress very slowly.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	2. Dare

**AN: **Well I wrote this yesterday, let it rest and then went to edit it. This is really different than anything I've written as these chapters are more like episodes, almost moments, but all connected somehow like links on a chain. Anyway, this one has more Sakura in it. I had a good time writing it and Yue's fun to write to me.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<br>Dare**

"Oh this will be so fun!" Sakura said.

"What will be fun?" Kero asked flying up behind her. It appeared Sakura was planning something.

"Our outing!" Sakura replied as she continued to plan with a grin on her face.

"What outing?"

"The one I've been planning for weeks now. Tomoyo's coming and I think some of the cards deserve a chance to come out outside of battle so maybe I'll use the illusion card and I talked to Yukito to make sure he has nothing to do so Yue can come and…"

Kero, who was only absently listening, stopped Sakura at the mention of his brother.

"Yue?"

"Well he did say he would come around more," Sakura said thoughtfully. "So I figured he'd come."

"Wait a minute!" Kero said flying in front of Sakura. "You haven't asked him yet?"

Sakura blushed. "Well I figured he wouldn't mind and I was hoping maybe you would ask him for me…" Sakura trailed off.

"Me!"

"Well not ask… Just let him know kind of, sort of…"

Only Sakura, Kero thought as he looked at her. How was he going to say this without crushing her spirits?

"You know, Yue's not exactly the social type Sakura."

"I'm not asking him to be social, just to be there. He said he would."

"He didn't exactly say that Sakura. You asked and he didn't answer. He didn't say yes."

"But he didn't say no either," Sakura pointed out and Kero sweat dropped. "That's as good as a yes to me. If he didn't want to, he would have said no, né?"

Kero groaned at Sakura's obliviousness. He always told Yue his silence on matters would get him in trouble someday. Now he had to try and get Sakura to understand exactly what Yue had meant, that his silence was his way of saying no without saying no and hurting her feelings because he rather stay to himself than be in the company of a twelve-year-old… or anyone for that matter. Yue was just like that, watching from a distance, always on alert, but never quite there. That's how he preferred it, to be aloof.

"I just need you to go ask him for me," Sakura finally said.

"When is this outing?" Kero asked relenting. Maybe if he started now and nagged enough, Yue would give in by the time it came. It was dangerous and it was very likely Yue would kill him first, but maybe…

"Three days."

"What?" Kero exclaimed.

"Well I figure that's enough time ahead, don't you?"

Kero crashed to the ground. Sakura was obviously confused by his antics and said, "Nani?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all, but maybe it would be better if you went and asked him. You know how Yue treats me!" Kero said as he began to formulate a plan.

"That's probably a good idea. It is my outing," Sakura said nervously and then clapped her hands in determination. "I'll go ask him right now then."

"No!" Kero said flying up to her again and then realizing his mistake said, "Maybe you should wait until after school tomorrow. I mean, you've been so busy all day, you probably haven't even finished your homework."

Sakura blinked for a moment and then, "HOE! I completely forgot. Oh man!"

Kero was just relieved that she wasn't about to set out and talk to Yue right then. Perhaps by the time Sakura went to talk to him, he could soften him up some. He left after Sakura went to bed so she wouldn't notice that he had left. It was probably better like this anyway. No doubt Yue was already out the house anyway, stretching his wings at his favorite place, Tokyo tower. He would never know what it was about the place that attracted the moon guardian to that place.

Sure enough, Cerberus found Yue there. He almost appeared to be asleep, but he knew better than that. It was impossible to catch Yue off guard and not alert… well, unless it was Sakura.

"What is it?" he asked before the sun guardian was even able to land properly.

"Sakura…"

Yue sighed a little, so softly Cerberus almost didn't hear it.

"Last time you did this you wanted me to cheer her up over silly words. I'm not doing it again," Yue replied. "If she didn't believe me last time, why should I go again?"

Cerberus rolled his eyes. "Actually, she sent me to find you."

Yue opened his eyes and look up at this point. "What for?"

"She's planning an outing with Tomoyo and me and the cards. She'd like you to be there. It's in three days… well closer to two days now but you get the point."

Yue simply stared at him for a moment before closing his eyes again.

"I don't socialize," he said.

Cerberus knew this was going to be his reply.

"So that's a no?" he said.

Yue didn't answer.

"Yue! Come on! She's been planning this for weeks!"

"Don't whine Cerberus. It annoys me."

"Ugh! It's a wonder that girl actually wants you around to begin with acting like this and all! She's been planning this for weeks and you're going to tell her no?" Cerberus yelled.

"No," Yue said quietly and Cerberus looked at him hopefully before the moon guardian continued, "You are."

Cerberus crashed to the floor and then stood up standing over a clearly unintimidated Yue.

"No. You're going to tell her!"

"You think you can make me?"

"I don't have to," Cerberus said grinning. "She's coming tomorrow to ask you. I thought I should prepare you."

Yue visibly faltered.

"I dare you to tell her now. I dare you to tell her you don't want to go because you don't socialize," Cerberus challenged. "Besides, it's your fault. If you had just said that it wasn't possible for you to be around more when she asked, she might not have planned this at all. I have a feeling she planned it with you in mind anyway or either she got the idea because of you…"

Yue turned to look at the half-moon in the sky, his way of telling Cerberus the conversation was over. Cerberus sighed. He had tried. It was all on Yue now.

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><p>Sakura played with her fingers as she stood in front of Yukito's door. She had been standing there for five minutes contemplating how to ask the moon guardian what she wanted. It shouldn't be so hard. She had known Yue for almost two years now. It shouldn't be this hard to ring the doorbell, greet Yukito, ask to speak to Yue, tell him the time and date and wait for an answer. She was sure he would say yes.<p>

"Are you going to ring the doorbell or am I going to have to go get Yue for you?" Kero asked from where he was sitting on her shoulder.

Sakura let out a deep breath and rang the doorbell. This was it.

"Oh. Hello Sakura," Yukito said coming to the door with a smile. "What are you doing here? It's kind of late isn't it?"

"Yeah… I guess it is… I meant to come earlier but I was busy," Sakura said shyly.

Kero made a coughing noise, and Sakura glanced up in warning, daring him to say the actual reason she was late. The actual truth was Sakura had spent all day trying to get her nerves together. It would seem she'd finally stop being nervous around Yue. Maybe eventually she'd grow out of it.

"Can I talk to Yue?" she finally asked.

No sooner than the words had left her lips was Yue standing there looking down at her.

"Yes?" he asked.

Kero had to say, it was a vast improvement from how Yue used to act. Months ago he probably would have said very curtly, "What do you want?"

Yue on the other hand had known the girl was outside for some time. But he had been hoping she would give up and leave. In fact, he thought she might not come at all with how late it was getting.

"Hello Yue."

Yue didn't return the greeting only waited for her to get to the point, even though he already knew what she wanted to begin with.

"Well, you see… I planned an outing for this weekend with Tomoyo, Kero, and I thought the cards could get some out time. You know an outing between friends…" Sakura trailed off and looked at Yue whose expression hadn't changed. She took a deep breath and blurted out, "I was hoping you'd like to come!"

Whether he'd like to go wasn't the question. Kero was certain he probably didn't want to. The question was whether he'd come or not despite his own personal feeling on the matter.

Yue noticed his brother staring at him with his arms crossed and his legs tucked under him, a small smile on his face as if daring him to say no. Yue began to answer but as if sensing his response Sakura rambled on.

"Of course, you don't have to come if you don't want to even though I'd really like it if you did. And Yukito already said it was okay if you had the day. And you didn't answer when I asked you about coming to visit more often, so thought, maybe you'd come," Sakura ended softly.

Yue ignored the pointed look Cerberus was giving him as his mind went back to the evening she had made the request, something that implied it wasn't likely. He was right. He probably should have answered her that night. Sometimes silence wasn't always a good thing. It left room for another to make assumptions based on what they felt. It was especially true when dealing with his mistress. He resisted the urge to sigh. It was his own fault. He's face it. Besides, he doubted he would be able to refuse her even if she hadn't made the request that night.

"Alright. When is it?"

Sakura gasped in joy at his response and appeared to be trying not to jump up and down in excitement. Yue was glad she didn't.

"Oh you mean it!"

"Don't ask again Sakura. He might change his mind if you let him. You know Yue," Kero said to her, but Sakura ignored him.

"Yes," Yue sighed and his mistress proceeded to give him the time, date, and place before running off in excitement. She didn't even notice Kero stay behind for a moment.

"I have to admit," Kero said to him. "I thought you were going to put up more of a fight. You didn't even try to make an excuse this time."

"It was my own fault for putting the notion in her head, even if I didn't say anything to start with," Yue replied.

Kero rolled his eyes. "Face it. You're more fond of her than you let on."

"She's my mistress," was his reply.

"Come on. Admit it," Kero said getting at close to Yue as he dared.

Yue glared at Kero. The toy looking guardian got the point and grinned sheepishly as he flew backwards, with a watchful eye on Yue. Sure Yue was serious most of the time and hardly 'sunk' to Kero's level to amuse himself. But if Kero pushed it enough… When he deemed it safe to turn his back, positive Yue wasn't going to try anything, Kero turned to rush after Sakura.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> The Subtle message? Exactly what Kero says at the end, that and Sakura conquering her nervousness around him to ask him something which is an improvement in their relationship I say and a step in some direction. I was going to tag the actual outing onto the end but decided against it. It's what gets him to go and the aftermath that counts.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	3. Vulnerable

**AN: **Well this came along faster than I thought… I didn't do the outing because the last chapter wasn't about the outing so much as it was about the fact that Sakura got him to come in the first place because of a slip up on Yue's part. So this is the next chapter.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<br>Vulnerable**

Yue wasn't sure if Kero had told her or if she figured it out on her own, but he had a feeling his mistress knew that if she wanted to spend some time with him, all she had to do was drop the hint that she was planning another outing and he would relent and see her sometimes during the evening. He had to admit to himself though, he had enjoyed the first time she had convinced him to come spend an afternoon with her, her best friend, Kero and the cards to which Kero had said she wouldn't have to plan at all if someone would just drop by every now and then. So he relented. The trips were infrequent though, usually at night when Yukito was sleeping.

He would never understand his mistress' sleeping habits. He guessed it was a remainder of her time catching the cards and soon after the trials that reincarnated them. She now had a habit, according to Kero, of sleeping early in the evenings after dinner and waking up in the middle of the night. She had been trying to break the habit, but had yet to succeed in doing so completely. And based on the fact that Yue would rather pay her visits late in the evening now instead of during the day or having her plan something and ask him to come, he had a feeling she might never break it any time soon, even if the times he did come were erratic.

It had been about a two or three months since his last time visiting her, the longest since Cerberus decided it was part of his guardian duties to cheer her up after a difficult day at school (to this day he had no clue what exactly he did, though his brother seemed to know and wouldn't tell him). It wasn't his fault though. He had been considerate that Yukito had been studying hard and staying up late doing things for the university and Yue hardly had the time for a short flight, let alone a lengthily visit with his mistress. So when Yukito decided to sleep the day off and not do anything, Yue took the opportunity to go see his mistress before she planned something that would force him to see her. He wouldn't admit that part of him had become accustomed to their visits and her endless rambling about nothing in particular, seemingly happy just to have him there whether he participated in the conversation or not. He, dare he think it, had missed her company.

He slipped into the house through the back door, wondering if she sensed his approach. She probably wouldn't as she tended not to look for him when she wasn't expecting him. He stood behind her while she was doing what appeared to be some school work. It wasn't until the sun came out from behind the clouds and she felt his shadow over her that she turned to look at him. She blinked at him, and Yue just waited for her dramatic reaction.

He wasn't disappointed.

"HOEEE!" she said jumping back, managing to knock her schoolwork off the table in the process. It prompted Kero to come downstairs and see what was happening. He took one look at Yue and understood.

"You would think you'd be used to this already," said Kero.

"It's not my fault," Sakura whined. "He snuck up on me!"

Yue might have been slightly offended by her dramatic reactions a year ago, but now he found them amusing, though he never indicated it…

"It's not funny," Sakura grumbled at him.

Or so that's what Yue thought…

Yue raised his eyebrow and Kero flew close up to Yue to inspect his expression before going to settle down on the table.

"No one's laughing Sakura," he said.

"He doesn't have to," Sakura muttered. "I can tell."

"How?" Kero asked inspecting Yue's face. "I can't tell."

"That's because it's easy to explain off. When he moves his eyes to the left and back, it's amusement, especially when he puts his hand on his hip. When it's to his right and back, he's bothered, sometimes angry. A look to the side, usually his right side, with his head down is embarrassment or shyness. And a look to the side while looking up is worry, sadness, or contemplation depending on the tilt of his head. I haven't quite figured out what looking down and closing his eyes with his arms crossed is. Sometimes it doesn't mean anything, just that he's not feeling anything and being distant as always or it can something between anger, annoyance, and being tired," Sakura finished as she cleaned up her homework.

Kero gaped at Sakura while Yue simply stared at her, ever conscious of his posture now.

"Lips pressed together, penetrating stare, eyebrows neutral and a blink is surprise," Sakura said obviously reading his current expression as she went to put her homework away.

Surprise didn't even begin to describe it.

"Wow," Kero said staring after her. "She's really got you down to a tee."

Somehow, it made Yue feel very vulnerable that she had learned to read him so well. He hadn't even known there was a way to read his basically neutral expressions.

Sakura noticed them still looking at her when she got back and asked with a timid smile, "What?"

"How did you figure all that out?" Kero asked.

"You're bound to if you talk to him long enough," Sakura said as though it were just that simple.

Yue didn't buy it. His mistress always had the uncanny ability to pick up on other people's feelings despite the fact that she could hardly decipher her own sometimes. He wondered if it was the beginning of some empathetic sense in the future. Then again, his mistress was the only one that wasn't too put off by his quiet and aloof nature to talk to him 'long enough.'

"So," Sakura said obviously done with the topic. "What do you want to do today Yue?"

"It's all up to you mistress," Yue replied sitting on the couch deciding to ponder whether her ability to read him so easily bothered him or not later.

"No it's not," Sakura insisted. "What do you like to do?"

"Like to do?" Yue repeated.

"Yeah," Sakura replied. "You must do something to occupy your time when you're in control."

"Besides going to Tokyo Tower and staring at the sky at night in silent contemplation, maybe reading a book here and there, Yue doesn't do much of anything," Kero said to her.

"That's it?" Sakura replied blinking.

Yue started not to say anything in response, but then saw a contemplative look on her face and decided he better say something before she decided to use the illusion card on him and take him out to find something he liked to do. She had taken him out once and had learned that loud noises and too much movement made him edgy, he preferred not to get wet, and that he did not like crowds ("Like an spoiled overgrown cat," Kero had said snickering). He didn't want to go through that experience again.

"Fly," he replied to divert her train of thought.

"Well, it's the middle of the day. We'll have to do that at night sometime or someone might see us…" Sakura said trailing off and then exclaimed, "I know."

She darted up the stairs and Yue looked at Kero who only shrugged his shoulders in response. What was the girl going to put him up to now?

She came back down with a pad in her hand and a couple of pencils.

"I'll draw you!"

He wasn't surprised, just mildly intrigued. "Draw me?"

"Yeah. I have to do it for school anyway, in our art class. He said draw whatever we wanted. I was going to draw Kero, but he can't sit still long enough for me to get it right. And anyway, if you like to sit, think, and stare at the sky, I figured it would be perfect. We'd still be doing something you want to. We can do it in the back yard," Sakura said not waiting for an answer as she headed outside.

Yue couldn't object. It really did work out for both of them. So he went outside and his mistress directed him to a cherry blossom tree in the backyard. He unconsciously crossed his arms and closed his eyes enjoying the gentle breeze, allowing himself to relax a little.

"That's perfect," Sakura said and then look around. "Okay, now make your wings appear."

Yue obeyed.

"Okay. Now don't move," she said as she settled on the ground and began to draw.

Kero eventually became bored and went inside to raid the refrigerator. But Sakura hardly noticed as she was too focused on getting her drawing right. She kept moving from place to place in the garden to get the perfect angle and even came up to him once and unbraided his hair after he had given his silent permission for her to do so. She wrapped his purple ribbon around her left hand and wrist and then continued to draw.

"There," Sakura whispered to herself when she was done and looked up at Yue to tell him so. She looked at him and blinked. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was asleep. He hadn't moved so much as a centimeter and had only briefly tensed when she undid his braid.

"Okay Yue. I'm done," Sakura said and he opened his eyes so suddenly Sakura had to hold back a startled squeak.

"It's not perfect," Sakura said holding it out for him to see as she approached him. "But I did my best."

"Your best is better than anything I could have done," Kero pointed out as he came up behind her to look at the finished picture. "It looks just like him."

"What do you think Yue?"

Yue only stared at it for a moment and when he didn't answer after a while, Sakura started to pull it back from him.

Finally he said, "It's quite nice."

Sakura beamed and then took her pencil to sign and name the piece in small writing in the corner of the picture.

"I think I'll call it… Moon Tenshi," she decided and proceeded to write so in the corner along with her signature.

"Yue's far from an angel Sakura," Kero said dryly looking at his brother for a reaction who only shrugged a little in indifference.

"I don't know," Sakura said somewhat absently. "I think he's pretty close."

Yue glance at Sakura and then looked to the side a little.

"Well I'll be damned," Kero said. "You were right Sakura. He does look down to his right side when he's acting shy."

Now self conscious, Yue looked straight ahead and tried to remain indifferent again before his mistress looked up and caught him. She only smiled at him though, having already seen his reaction, before starting to make her way back into the house. She stopped when she realized she still had his ribbon around her arm.

"Your hair Yue. I forgot."

Sakura backtracked to go around him and retie it only to sigh and say, "It's all tangled from the wind. Guess I'll have to brush it first. You don't mind, do you Yue?"

Kero rolled his eyes as he flew back into the house, muttering something under his breath that neither Yue nor Sakura quite caught. They followed him in the house and Sakura had Yue sit in a chair and stand quite a ways back as Yue's hair was almost as long as he was tall.

She was silent as she worked through the tangles and Yue couldn't help be feel a bit of déjà-vu. With sudden clarity, he realized that it reminded him of a time in the past where Clow had had brushed his hair in the past. In fact, he used to do it quiet often and was the only one Yue let touch his hair. Kero always said he had been very peculiar about it (that was actually a true fact that Yue kept to himself). Yue had to wonder. When had he become so comfortable around his mistress-and she around him that he would agree to let her do something so…? Yue couldn't quite find the right word for it. Whatever it was, he was content to let her continue.

"Yue," Sakura said after a long time of saying nothing. By now she was struggling to gather his hair to braid at the end and replace the ribbon.

He didn't answer, but a slight nod of his head told her he was listening.

"My birthday's coming up soon and I'm having two parties. One for my friends at school and another more private one for everyone _else_," Sakura said to him not having to explain who everyone else was. "Yukito's coming to the first one, I already talked to him about it, but I was wondering if you'd like to come to the second one."

He had been waiting for her to ask. She remembered her asking Yukito about it.

"The question isn't whether he wants to go Sakura," Kero said before Yue could answer. "Yue hates people and socializing. The question is 'will he'?"

Sakura wasn't at all deterred as she finally finished placing the ribbon and doing the braid.

"So will you?" she corrected.

Kero snickered and looked at Sakura.

"I don't even know why you bother Sakura," he said directly to her, but very aware that Yue was listening.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"It's not like he can say no to you," Kero replied grinning at the opportunity to oust his brother.

"Yue can always say no if he wants to. He doesn't have to come. I'm not going to make him," Sakura said not picking up Kero's meaning.

"Oh he knows he doesn't have to come. I'm just saying that-."

Yue suddenly reach his hand out and squeezed Kero tightly around his body.

"Yue," Kero squeaked.

After a few seconds, Yue dropped him and the small guardian fell to the floor gasping for breath.

"I don't get it," Sakura said confused as to why Yue suddenly attacked Kero. "What do you mean Kero?"

"Uh… Nothing Sakura," Kero finally decided aware of the murderous gleam in Yue's eye.

"Oh." Sakura turned back to Yue. "So will you?"

"I'll come," he replied making sure to step on Kero as he stood up.

"Yue!" Kero yelled when he got from under the guardian's foot.

Yue ignored him and said, "I must leave now, mistress. I think I've overstayed my visit. No doubt I've probably disrupted Yukito's plans for the afternoon by now."

"My name's Sakura. Sa-ku-ra!"

"I'm very well aware of what your name is mistress," Yue said to her softly.

Sakura sighed but didn't say anything to his comment. She'd get him to say her name one day.

"Tell Yukito I'm sorry for keeping you. It was my fault," Sakura said feeling a bit guilty. "Oh and Yue…"

He looked down at her and she seemed to briefly hesitate about something.

Then she took a deep breath and before she lost her nerve hugged him around the waist and said, "Thank you for coming over," before she darted out the room and up the stairs.

Yue stared after her, not even trying to disguise his shock. How long had it been since someone had hugged him? Not since Clow, that was for sure. In fact, Clow was the only one…

"Always full of surprises," Kero replied flying up next to him. "I bet no one's every shocked you as much as she has in the last few hours huh?"

Yue knocked Kero out the air before leaving out the back door and taking to the skies. Annoying as his brother was, he was right. His mistress never ceased to surprise him. She was more intuitive than people, himself included, gave her credit for. The thought should have bothered him, especially because she had learned to read him so easily. Instead, he only smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> This was really fun to write. I figured Sakura would eventually learn something about Yue if she were around him enough and her magic would help her unconsciously. I don't know how I came up with this. Now in the next chapter is her birthday party and part of it is from someone else's eyes.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	4. Birthday Observations

**AN: **I feel so ignorant of this series as I go back and watch the anime (eventually going to read the manga online somewhere). I knew all the differences but details help and man was it ten times better than the crap for a show America dubbed, not that I like American anime anyway, but I discovered anime through the dubs when I was little and there was no internet so I guess I should be grateful for something… Anyway, this chapter is Sakura's birthday, what's there to say?

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<br>Birthday Observations**

He noticed it as soon as Yue arrived, how her face lit up in excitement. Sakura probably hadn't even noticed how perky she seemed to become after she greeted him and he nodded in her direction with a quiet "Happy birthday Mistress," and what might have been a smile. Yue smiling? That was new, Eriol mused to himself. And so for the evening he watched the two, separately and together.

Yue was the same as always. He appeared not to even want to be there, standing off to the side most of the time while everyone else enjoyed their small private party but very aware of everything that was going on. The now thirteen-year-old Sakura didn't seem to mind that he was standing off alone and shooing everyone who talked to him away, not with words, but lack of words. Yue had always had a way of saying a lot without ever opening his mouth.

After a while of watching Yue, Eriol turned back to Sakura who was about to start opening her second batch of presents, presents they could have never given her during her first party as only their small group would understand the significance of them, like the scrapbook of all the outfits she had ever worn that Tomoyo made for her and the significant things that had happened while she wore them or the book Eriol himself had given her so she could start practicing her magic without depending on the cards so much now that she was thirteen (There was no real significance to the age of thirteen when it came to magic. It was just that by that time puberty had kicked in and magic abilities started to become uncontrollable and unpredictable as they grew if not tamed).

Sakura didn't appear to be bothered by his aloofness, although she did continue to glance in his direction periodically to check on him, smile, and continue opening presents and enjoying her other company. It wasn't until she thought everyone was too distracted exchanging stories and updating each other on what had been going, not aware that Eriol had been watching her and Yue all night, that Sakura slipped away to approach the moon guardian.

Eriol couldn't help but be nosy, and so while paying attention to his own conversations with everyone else, he also listened to what the other two were saying.

"Thank you for coming Yue. I know you don't like things like this. But I'm glad you came anyway. You could have left if you wanted," she said to him.

Eriol discreetly paid close attention to Yue to read his reaction. He seemed to relax a little, much more than he had all evening.

"It was fine. I… I know you wanted me to come," he replied.

Ah, Eriol thought. So he was there because she had asked him to come, not because he particularly wanted to come to the party. That's why he had stayed. Eriol wasn't surprised.

"Well then, since it's obvious you've had enough socializing for one night, you can leave after I ask you something."

"Why don't we go outside?" Yue suggested out of the blue.

Sakura blinked but didn't protest as she said, "Okay. Let me just go tell everyone in case they worry where I've disappeared to."

"Don't worry about that," Yue said. "I'm sure Hiragizawa will inform them if they wonder. He's been watching me all night and listening since you came over here."

With that, Yue looked directly at him with what might have been an annoyed expression and Eriol smiled. So much for discreet, he thought as the moon guardian and Sakura went outside.

* * *

><p>Yue was glad to get away from everyone. He had been very aware of Clow's reincarnation watching him all night, and it was only for his mistress' sake that he had remained to begin with. He didn't want to disappoint her. When they were outside he looked at the sky and heard her sigh a little.<p>

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said to him as she showed the book she had been holding, the one she had gotten from Eriol.

"Eriol gave me this. He says it's so I can learn magic without having to depend on the cards so much. Kero said he'll help me with it if I have trouble and I was wondering if you would help me too. Besides the cards, I don't know anything about all this magic," Sakura sighed. "He says it's up to me, but he advised I at least practice a little so my magic doesn't become too much for me to control…"

She didn't appear to be stopping any time soon and so Yue said, "You ramble when you're nervous."

Sakura blushed, covering her face with the book to compose herself before taking it away.

"Sorry," she said.

"There's nothing to apologize for."

Sakura didn't say anything for a moment but Yue detected that there was something else on her mind and so stayed.

"Let's go flying," she suddenly blurted out putting her book on the side of the door

Yue raised an eyebrow. What had spurred that on?

"Flying?" he repeated.

"Yeah. You said that's what you like to do and I said we would go one day. Let's go tonight," she said already starting to summon her wand.

"It's your birthday," he pointed out.

"And I want to go flying with you," she replied as she used the FLY and two wings appeared on her back. She lifted off the ground slightly.

"Come on!" she said holding out her hand to him.

He stared at it for a moment. No doubt her brother would get worried when he found out they weren't outside, especially this late. But his mistress could be very insistent when she wanted to be. His wings appeared on his back as he grabbed her hand and they took to the skies together. Yue wasn't sure how long they flew. He didn't even realize where she was leading him until he saw Tokyo Tower in the distance. He just knew that he felt more at peace than he had in a while. In fact, lately he was always at peace around his mistress.

When they landed, Sakura sighed and sat down as her wings disappeared. Yue sat next to her.

"I've never flown that far before," she said obviously winded as she looked at the full moon in the sky.

"It can be quite tiring."

"It doesn't looks like it when you and Kero fly. You two look like you could fly all day."

"It takes practice."

"I didn't know flying took practice," Sakura said thoughtfully. "You and Kero will have to teach me then."

Yue made a small sound of acknowledgement as he started to stare off into the sky at the moon.

"Oh yeah and one more thing," Sakura said before the moon guardian got too into his thoughts and distant. She knew when not to push it and once he was completely gone in his thoughts was the time to just let him alone.

Reaching into the cloak of the elaborate costume Tomoyo had created for her, she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. Yue took it and made an expression that Sakura hadn't quite learned to read yet as he looked at the picture of him she had drawn two or three weeks back.

"I already showed it to my teacher and he made a copy of it so he can grade it. This is the original. I wanted you to have it as thanks."

Sakura watched him stare at it for a while, thinking that he might give it back to her saying he had no desire to keep it. Instead, he slipped it into one of the folds of his robes and an expression (if it could be called that) crossed his features that Sakura had never seen. Appreciation maybe? Amusement perhaps? Sakura wasn't sure. She made a mental note to pay close attention to it along with where he placed his arms the next time he did it. She turned her attention back to the moon and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Yue was so wrapped up into whatever he was thinking that he didn't notice when Sakura's head gently fell on his shoulder when she fell asleep. In fact, it wasn't until she fell into his lap that he noticed she had fallen asleep at all. Gently, he picked her up and headed back to her home.

* * *

><p>Toya looked out the window impatiently waiting for his sister to return home, the guests having long since left.<p>

"Where in the world did they go?" he asked angrily with his arms crossed. "It's late. Scratch that. It was late when they left. It's beyond late now."

"Relax," Kero said finishing off some of the cake that was left over. "She's with Yue."

"Still. It was one thing to go outside, but guardian or not he could have at least told someone where they were going before he took off with my sister," Toya grumbled.

"Trust me. She's as safe as she can be with Yue. He's not going to let anything happen to her. He takes this guardian business serious enough as it is," Kero said dryly.

"They're back," Toya said spotting them out his sister's window. "Finally!"

He opened the window to let them in. Yue slipped inside silently with Sakura in his arms, and Toya opened his mouth to loudly take out some of his anger until Yue silenced him with a solid glare. Toya figured the guardian didn't want him to disturb Sakura.

"Fine…" Toya mumbled. "Just make sure you two don't make a habit of this. Is she okay?"

"She fell asleep. I didn't realize it was so late," Yue said lying Sakura on the bed. He stood over her for a moment, almost as though he was just watching her sleep, and then left out the window without a word.

Toya looked at his sister and then out the window Yue had just left out of. He sensed something amiss, not right now, but certainly in the future. He didn't have his powers anymore, but this wasn't quite a magical disturbance. There was something in the way Yue looked at his sister lately, especially a few moments ago, how she seemed to be the only one he opened up to. Then again, Sakura had that effect on everyone. But he sensed something else from the moon guardian, something he couldn't quite decipher yet. What he did know was that he didn't like it. He had never had a problem with Yue until then. He was practically an emotionless void for all he knew, and Yue had been the least of his concerns when it came to Sakura. He couldn't quite place why he was suddenly so concerned.

"You sense it too?" Kero asked knowingly.

Toya jumped. "Sense what?"

"You know exactly what?" Kero said with a grin and then said seriously, "Don't worry. I know Yue and for all his cold and mean demeanor, he's a kind soul. He'd never hurt her, not knowingly anyway."

Toya clenched his fist. "And that's the part that has me worried about all this Kero."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> What Toya's worried about I left in the air, but I enjoyed writing this part because as the oldest of seven, when something's going one the protective older siblings sense goes off whether I know what's it's about or not. I know it's something and so while I thought Toya wouldn't quite do anything because quite frankly, Sakura's too young for anything of that romantic nature yet and it's still innocent, he'd detect something that might grow in the future. Anyway, that's it.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	5. Magic Mishap

**AN: **Nothing to say. About to go and trying to get this posted. So enjoy and I mean really. I'll leave you all to judge it since I was very iffy on it.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<br>Magic Mishap**

"You should stop."

Sakura looked up from the magic book to look up at her moon guardian. His face didn't betray much emotion, not one that she knew how to read anyway, but she could detect his concern for her well being. He was right. She was tired, but she was almost there, she had almost figured out how to work this spell.

"I know," the girl said, her loose hair falling in her face as she led her head fall forward. "But I've almost got it."

"It's not wise to do magic when you're tired," Yue replied.

"I'm not tired," Sakura insisted.

Yue only raised his eyebrow at her. He was amused, Sakura gathered and he obviously didn't believe her. He had good reason not to. She had gone to school, come home and asked Yukito to come over and help her with her math homework. When they were done and since she had him over anyway, Sakura asked Yue to help her understand something in her magic book that Kero could quite help her to understand. They had been in her room ever since. Kero had long since went to sleep, but Yue had stayed there in silence watching her like he always did when she was practicing her magic, making sure she didn't put a strain on herself or her magic. And she was definitely tired.

Normally that look he gave her would work. It was a silent command that meant, "Go to bed or you're going to mess this up." But it wasn't going to work tonight. She was almost there.

"Mistress…"

"No," Sakura said lifting her head. "I've got it."

Sakura sensed his skepticism and concern, made apparent by the fact that he moved reached out and moved a piece of hair in her face behind her ears. She smiled in appreciation of his concern which he returned. He had improved when it came to his stoniness, not to ever be confused with his aloof and distant nature. He was still that, just less closed off, at least not around her and occasionally Kero. She was still trying to get him to be more sociable with other people, but improvement was improvement regardless.

He stood off to the side as she summoned her staff to help her channel her magic into the spell.

"What exactly does this spell do?" Yue asked.

"Simple," Sakura said. "It animates inanimate objects."

"Animates them?" Yue asked. "Mistress, are you sure?"

"Of course. It'll be fine Yue. You worry too much!"

Yue couldn't help it. He'd really feel better if she let him help her somehow on this one. But she was stubborn as usual. She grabbed a random stuffed animal, an old stuffed doll of one of her favorite manga or anime, and twirled her staff around reciting the words to the spell, she finished, sealing it off with her staff, but it sounded incomplete to Yue for some reason. He picked up the book she had abandoned on the floor and looked at the spell she had been reading, flipped to the next page and then flipped it back. He held back a sound of exasperation as he wondered when one of his duties became practically babysitting his mistress and making sure she stayed out of trouble. He knew she should have let him check first.

"Mistress," he began to say before being cut off by her loud proclamation of, "I did it!"

"Did what?" Kero asked.

"You didn't read the entire spell," Yue pointed out to her.

"But it worked. My doll's alive!" Sakura said knelling in front of her bed to where the doll was standing. "I wish I could have done this years ago when I played with my dollhouse! It would have been so much fun."

"Sakura," Kero said having heard Yue. "I think you might want to stop this. You don't know what the consequences of a half-finished spell can be."

"Is it always bad?" Sakura asked watching her doll 'look' around the room.

"Not always, but…" Kero trailed off as the doll suddenly launched itself across the room and on Sakura's vanity going through her nail polish.

"Hey! What are you doing? Stop!" Sakura said.

The doll glanced at her and then turned back to what to what it was doing.

"Why won't it listen to me?"

Kero flew behind Yue to read the remaining part of the spell.

"Uh-oh…"

"Uh-oh? What's that mean?"

"The thing about bringing inanimate objects to life is that you have to name yourself their master. That was in the part of the spell you missed," Kero said.

"Simple," Sakura said. "I just finish the spell."

"Actually it's not… You sealed the first spell, so first you have to lift this one."

"Alright. I'll undo the spell then!"

"Sakura no!" Kero yelled, but it was too late. The doll turned her head sharply to look back at the three and then flipped over knocking over Sakura's lamp in the process before launching herself at Sakura.

"Eep!"

Yue grabbed her and dropped them to the ground, the doll landing somewhere behind them.

"Now you've done it," Yue muttered to her.

"Done what exactly?"

"Magic is naturally mischievous in nature Sakura. That's why it has to be controlled. That's why powerful magicians like you will be one day have to learn to control it. When it comes to things like animating objects, you never say the words undo or reverse. Naturally, it's either going to attack the person that can undo it or run," Kero said as the three huddled together in the middle of the room looking for the doll.

The doll suddenly launched itself through the air to the cracked door.

"Sakura! Don't let it get out the room. Close the door!" Kero exclaimed.

But the doll only sneered at them and ran out.

"Well, it can't be too bad. How much trouble can one doll cause?"

Kero shrugged. "It depends."

"What was your intent?" Yue asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"What were you thinking when you cast the spell?"

"Well," Sakura said putting her finger on her chin. "I was thinking how much fun it would be to play with and talk to the actual Sailor Moon?"

"Sailor Moon?" Yue said blinking in confusion as he turned to Kero who knew more about his mistress' weakness for these 'manga' characters.

"The actual Sailor Moon?" Kero asked with a large sweat drop.

Sakura nodded and Kero crashed to the ground.

"That's it. No more spells until you understand about intent and wording," he yelled. "We gotta catch that thing!"

"Why?" Both Yue and Sakura asked.

"You left your spell too vague. That dolls imbued with your magic and the actual Sailor Moon, means actual… You know, that crazy tiara thing she does and those wands," Kero explained.

"Have you been reading my manga?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"That's beside the point. The point is you've got to get that thing and undo that spell."

"But I don't know how to undo it!"

"Or we can just wait until you're not able to keep the spell up anymore and seeing as this spell is pretty basic, that might be a while," Kero replied.

"Well, how much damage can one magically enchanted magic doll do? I mean it's Sailor Moon," Sakura replied.

"If I may say mistress," Yue said to her dryly. "That's like saying what can RAIN do if you weren't it's master."

Sakura got the point, especially when she heard her brother yell from his room.

* * *

><p>"Did you find it?" Sakura asked as she met Yue in the park.<p>

"Briefly, but your doll is very…"

Yue couldn't quite find a word but Sakura got his meaning as she sank to her knees, the wings of the fly card disappearing from her back.

"By the time we find that thing, everyone's going to think the whole city's being haunted by a ghost or cursed. This is all my fault," Sakura whined.

Yue mentally went over the events of the night. After they had found the doll terrorizing her brother, a very annoyed Toya got up to help them find it in the house. The problem was, they had forgotten to at least go close and lock all the doors and windows, so when it was obvious they were about to close in on 'her', the doll winked and then managed to find her way out the window. His mistress hadn't waited for anyone to tell her to go after the doll and she made her way to follow, using the fly the scan the area, Yue and Cerberus following behind her. It should have been hard. How far could a doll get? Apparently very far, they all found out when they found evidence of what appeared to be a random trail of mayhem ad different department stores. It so lacked a pattern that they decided to split up to find it with no luck on his part and apparently his mistress' also. He couldn't help it. He had to agree with her. If she had just put it down for the night like he suggested or at least let him double-check, they wouldn't be in this mess.

"You're right. It is your fault," he said to her.

His mistress looked at him in obvious annoyance, a look he was becoming more and more acquainted with since she had grown into a teenager. The nervousness and shyness that she used to have around him was still there, but frequently accompanied by something akin to exasperation and sometimes annoyance but not quite. She rolled her eyes not even trying to defend herself as she wallowed in her own disappointment in herself.

"What kind of sorceress am I if I make a mistake like this?"

"A normal one. Everyone makes mistakes," Yue said recalling a few times when he and Cerberus had to help Clow fix and undo his own mistakes, especially when he made the cards.

As if reading his mind Sakura deadpanned, "I bet Clow never had you chasing a doll around the city."

That was true…

"Clow wasn't a thirteen-year-old girl if I recall," Yue pointed out.

Sakura looked up at him, a playful scowl on her face.

"You're teasing me," she accused.

Yue didn't answer, which was enough confirmation.

"You'll make a very fine sorceress one day," he finally said.

"You think so?"

"I wouldn't have said so if I didn't."

Sakura smiled cheerfully and then stood back to her feet, now determined to go find her doll. Exactly what Yue had hoped his words would inspire her to do, though that didn't mean he meant them any less.

"Found her!" Cerberus said from where he was in the air. "And you'll never guess where."

When Cerberus showed them where, Sakura blinked in confusion and then said, "You're joking? A beauty supply store?"

"This has to has something to do with what you were thinking when you cast that spell," Cerberus said. "Were you distracted by anything? Were you completely focused?"

"Well," Sakura admitted. "I might have been thinking about how I was going to paint my nails the next day…"

Cerberus crashed.

"At least it makes sense now. When we followed her to that department store, she was in the cosmetic isle and in the grocery store she looked like she was looking for something but before she could find the nail polish we caught her," Sakura said thinking back.

"It is imperative that you have complete focus and are well rested when doing magic, mistress," Yue explained.

Sakura understood the implication. She should have gone to bed when he suggested it.

"Did you at least read how to reverse the spell? Fully?" Cerberus added.

"Yes," Sakura said as she took out one of her cards, the WINDY.

"WINDY!" she yelled. "Become a binding chain to restrain my doll. Release!"

By the time the doll figured out what was going on, WINDY had restrained it.

"Now's your chance," Cerberus yelled. "And this time focus!"

"I got it," Sakura replied twirling her wand in her hands as she chanted the reverse spell and pointed at the doll.

"Did it work?" she asked when she was done, approaching the fallen doll. She poked it with her staff and then timidly picked it up. "I don't sense any magic from it."

Yue grabbed the doll from her, just in case and then satisfied with her assessment said, "How about you take a break from practicing magic for a while?"

"Good idea," Sakura said looking at the book she had been studying for the last few months. Cerberus grabbed it out her hands. "Kero!"

Cerberus handed the book to Yue who only raised an eyebrow in question.

"Trust me. She's saying it now, but tomorrow night she'll be at it again. I think you should keep this for now," the sun guardian said to his brother.

"Kero! No fair!" Sakura whined and then turned to Yue. "Give it back."

Yue started to hand it back to her before catching the mischievousness in his brother's eyes and keeping it. He'd give it back to her eventually, when Cerberus didn't have black mail on him.

* * *

><p>"HOOOEEE!"<p>

"What is it now monster?" Toya said going to his sister's room to see what the commotion was about.

"I can't find my math homework!" Sakura exclaimed having dumped out the contents of her back, searching through all her books and papers.

"Why don't you go look in the living room? That's where you did it?"

"Great idea," Sakura said running down the stairs to look for it. She bent down on her knees to look under the table and then turned her head to look under the sofa before pausing. There was no way…

"Yue!" she said sitting up in surprise, staring at the moon guardian who was standing outside the back screen door holding something.

Sakura went to the door and opened it. She almost forgot she had to go to school as she started to let him in, but the moon guardian only shook his head.

"I think you'll need this," was all he said passing her the homework she had been looking for all morning.

"My math homework," she exclaimed and then frowned. "Where'd you get this?"

"You left it in that magic book. I figured I'd drop it by for you before you left."

Now Sakura remembered what she did. She had been so eager to practice she stuck the homework in a book where she could find it later not knowing that Kero would take it later. Sakura had never been so grateful for Yue in her life, after the dozens of times he had protected her and saved her. She'd rather face dangerous magic any day than have to do her math assignment again.

"Thank you so much!" she said and then added, "Do you want to come in?"

"Yukito has to get going and you're about to be late," Yue pointed out to her as he took to the skies again.

"Oh no!" Sakura yelled rushing past her brother and back up the stairs to pack her book bag.

"Did you find it?" Toya asked still in the doorway of her room.

"Yeah. I left it in my magic book. Yue brought it over," Sakura said loudly. "See you later Toya. Bye Kero."

She rushed back down the stairs and soon both Kero and Toya heard the front door close. Toya looked at Kero.

"Yue brought her homework over…" Toya said. "Do you sense anything wrong with that?"

Kero shrugged. "Well Yue did have the book."

"I know. But wouldn't it have just been easier to leave it somewhere for Yuki to find and let him take it to her or let Sakura go get it on the way?" Toya asked.

"I guess," Kero replied. "What are you getting at Toya?"

"I don't know. It just seems like Yue went out of his way to come over here, almost as though he was looking for an excuse to see her…"

"Yue has his reasons for everything. Don't read into it too much Toya, not yet anyway," Kero replied.

Toya started to walk off and then backtracked to say to Kero, "What do you mean not yet?"

He didn't get an answer.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> This was a lot of fun although I was tempted to take it out the story completely. Why? Well it was just something about it. But my sister like it and was like it makes sense that a thirteen year old sorceress would mess up and cause something like that to happen. She's not the most powerful sorceress in the world yet. You have to start somewhere. Lol. Tell me what you think.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	6. Jealousy

**AN: **So I have two things to say. One is that I'm officially done writing this story. It's just a matter of posting it and when I post it. In other words, this story will definitely be finished if you want it to be.

Second is that I'd like to give a shout out to hikarihayashi-chan for her review and I'm glad there's been improvement, especially because this is my first CCS fic. I enjoyed it and I was glad to get her opinion which was something I really needed. I was glad I improved by the chapter. That's what counts for me. So thanks.

So no more to say.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter Six<br>Jealousy**

Yue was more bothered by this than he thought he should have been, for reasons he really didn't want to ponder, but found himself doing anyway as he stood in the distance on top of a roof on a cloudy night with only the waning moon out. It hadn't bothered him at first. Years ago it wouldn't have bothered him at all, but now… He sighed. It wasn't her fault. She was just preoccupied with the return of that young Chinese boy. She hadn't told him he was back, but he knew it was something when she kept staring off into space while trying to practice magic and then later stared off into space when she normally couldn't stop talking as she filled him in on what had been going on in the week or so between his visits which he admitted were becoming more and more frequent.

Apparently Toya had noticed her behavior too and after asking Yukito about it, asked the moon guardian about her behavior because if anyone knew, Yue did. His mistress had a habit of confiding in him things she wouldn't normally tell anyone else, insecurities, fears. Yue wasn't sure if it was because she knew he didn't talk to anyone but she and Kero, that she trusted him, or something _else_. He had a feeling it was a mixture of the three. Either way, he was just as in the dark as Toya was and could tell him nothing. Even if he did know something, he wouldn't have told Toya about it. But he had to admit he too was curious at his mistress' strange behavior and he knew the perfect person to ask; her best friend Tomoyo. She had been surprised to see him and even more surprised that he didn't know what was going on.

"_You mean she hasn't told you yet?" the eccentric teenager asked obviously working on something for his mistress to wear. "Well since you're here, you can be the first to see how she looks in her new outfit. She's on her way here to get ready for her date so her brother doesn't find out."_

"_Date?" Yue asked and for some reason that bothered him._

"_Yeah," Tomoyo said and for once Yue didn't stop her from rambling like he normally would have. "She's getting ready over here just in case Toya decides to come by. He'll ruin it before her date even begins."_

Yue had to admit it was a smart move on his mistress' part. Despite the fact that Toya no longer lived in the house, he still dropped by often, a lot of times without prior warning. He opted not to stay, at least not where they could see him anyway. Yue was counting on his mistress to be too distracted to notice his presence nearby and so far it had done him well. He felt silly, spying on her this way, but there had to be a reason she didn't tell him to begin with. When her date came, he figured out why. Syaoran Li was back and apparently he and his mistress were picking up where they left off. He had always known he was supposed to be coming back. Sakura wrote him frequently enough and talked about him, but Yue had to admit he hadn't been looking forward to the boy's return. In fact, he was half hoping the boy wouldn't return at all, but then again that would have torn his mistress apart.

Yue hadn't intended to follow them anymore after that. He found out what he needed to and so planned to return back to the apartment his false form shared with Toya and give him back control for the night. But when he told Toya on his return, Toya demanded that he go and 'keep an eye on her,' while adding under his breath all the reasons he hated the 'brat' as justification for why Yue should go. Yue didn't object. He wasn't going t get any peace if he didn't, and if he were being honest, he wanted to all along.

"She's going to kill you if she finds out you've been following her, if she doesn't already know," Kero said to him when he found Yue watching the couple walking back to the house at the end of their date.

"She doesn't seem to have noticed it all night," Yue pointed out.

"You're underestimating her. Trust me Yue. You don't want to make her angry. She's not as docile as she used to be."

That was true, Yue thought. In becoming a teenager she was no less pure hearted and kind than she had been as a child, but she certainly had more mood swings. The one thing that never failed to set her off was when she thought she was being treated like a child, like she couldn't look out for herself.

"You know," Kero continued, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a little jealous."

"You sound like you've been watching too many of those romantic thrillers on television again."

"I'm serious," Kero said in a tone Yue rarely heard from him.

"Well it's not as though I've had the time myself since Toya moved in with Yukito. Naturally she'd find someone to occupy her time with. Besides, we've known that boy was coming back for years."

"Stop trying to lie to yourself Yue. You're jealous," Kero insisted.

Yue didn't try to deny it again only took to the skies as Sakura and Syaoran got closer to the house. Kero sat on the window sill as he looked as Syaoran walked Sakura to the door. They spoke for a moment and then Syaoran kissed Sakura on the cheek before walking away. Sakura watched him leave as he made his way down the street. Kero expected her to walk into the house in a daze, a silly smile on her face as she made her way up to her room. She would then sit on her bed and call Tomoyo to tell her all about her date.

She did none of it.

Instead a frustrated look came upon her features and she turned to the door and gripped the doorknob. She looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to go into the house. Suddenly, Sakura let go of the door, summoned her staff and called, "FLY."

Kero was only able to make out her growl, "Yue," under her breath before she took to the skies in the same direction the moon guardian had gone in.

"Uh-oh," Kero muttered.

Then he broke out into a grin and sang, "Yue's in trouble," before becoming his true form and following Sakura. No way was he going to miss this.

* * *

><p>It was times like these that Toya wished he still had his powers; that he wished he could sense whoever was at the door, their knocking threatening to the said object down. Who in the world would be coming by this late?<p>

"Who is that?" Yukito asked confused.

"I-."

"Open up Toya!"

Toya raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard his sister's voice and by the sound of it, she was angry. He opened the door.

"Monster what are you-?"

"Where is he?" Sakura demanded with her arms crossed.

"Where's who?"

Sakura didn't answer. She simply marched past Toya and to where Yukito was standing obviously confused.

"You… you… Ugh!"

"What did I do?" Yukito asked her.

"Sorry Yukito. Not you," Sakura said sighing in exasperation. "But Yue better come out here right now!"

Not able to refuse her, Yue appeared in front of her with his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised at her in mild curiosity. Otherwise, he wore a neutral expression.

"Yes?"

"You know exactly why I'm here," the nearly fifteen-year-old said with her hands on her hips.

"I can't read minds. That's a power Clow didn't bestow upon me," Yue informed her quietly. "I won't know what you're talking about unless you say so mistress."

If anything, that set Sakura off even more.

"Don't play dumb. I know you've been following me all night, as if I can't sense your presence," Sakura said raising her voice.

"I'm surprised you weren't too distracted with your boyfriend," Yue said in a clipped tone. "Besides, your brother put me up to it."

"Yue, you don't do anything for anybody except Sakura unless you wanted to do it in the first place," Kero said as Toya let him in the house in his true form.

Yue glared at his brother over his shoulder, silently telling him to be quiet.

"I'm your guardian. I'm supposed to protect you. I can't do that if you don't tell anyone where you're going and I don't know where you are," Yue said clearly not intimidated by Sakura's temper. Normally this type of attitude would have diffused any frustration she might have had with him, but it seemed she was actually angry at him.

"That's part of the reason I didn't mention it to begin with. If you knew, Toya would have found out," Sakura grumbled. "But you're worse than him sometimes."

Toya raised his eyebrows at this and could have sworn he saw amusement flash across the moon guardian's face before returning to his neutral stare. He didn't quite know what to make of this situation. He knew Sakura and Yue were close, but he had never seen them interact like this before, especially Sakura. Although she was no longer as nervous and shy around Yue as she used to be, she was still very delicate in her conversations and time with him. Sure she got annoyed with him a lot, especially when he called her 'mistress,' but she had never seen her angry with him.

"I wouldn't have had to follow you at all if you had told me to begin with," Yue replied, the cool façade he was keeping slipping a little. "You were acting strange and quiet for weeks. Of course I had to investigate."

"By watching my entire date!" Sakura asked.

"It necessary since you found the need to keep it secret."

"Yue-."

The moon guardian sighed. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "Since you seem to like spending so much time with Li lately anyway, I'll trust him to protect you on your dates. I apologize if my presence was an inconvenience."

Toya swore he heard a touch of bitterness and what sound like maybe jealousy in the moon guardian's tone…

Yue didn't even warn them as he returned control back to Yukito which only frustrated Sakura more than she already had been. Toya wonder if it occurred to her that she could just call him back if she wanted. Yue was too respectful to ignore a call from his 'master' whether he wanted to answer her or not. But Sakura was too kind to force him back out.

Yukito only blinked down at her confused.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Sakura only huffed, turned on her heel, absently called the FLY again, not noticing she didn't use her wand to do so, and made her way home.

Kero watched her disappear and then turned to Toya.

"Mind if I stay here for the night?" he asked. "I think it's in my best interest not to follow her right now."

* * *

><p>Tomoyo noticed that Sakura's brow was set in what look like annoyance and frustration when she came into the classroom. It indicated that something was definitely bothering her, especially since she was at school rather <em>early<em>. But Tomoyo dismissed it. It was probably her brother or something.

"So how was your date? You didn't call to tell me last night," Tomoyo asked after greeting her.

Sakura growled as she laid her arm across the desk and lay her head down on top of it.

"I forgot. I was too angry to call you to be honest…"

Tomoya gasped. "That bad? What did he do?"

"Oh no," Sakura said sighing. "My date was great."

"Then why…?"

Sakura groaned. "Yue," was all she said.

"Yue?"

"He followed me the entire date and watched in the name of being my guardian. I swear he's worse than Toya," Sakura said. "Then when I went over to ask him about it he got all snippy and high and might guardian on me saying he wouldn't have had to if I had told him in the first place."

Tomoyo laughed. "Really?"

Sakura nodded. "As if I had the time to tell him anyway. I haven't seen him in a while because I've been so busy and when I did see him I was too tired to talk or distracted."

Tomoyo stared at Sakura for a moment and then laughed suddenly.

"This isn't funny Tomoyo," Sakura sighed.

"Of course it is. It's cute in fact."

"What is?"

"Oh Sakura," Tomoyo said as though talking to a small child. "Yue's just jealous."

Sakura stared at Tomoyo as though she had grown a second head.

"Yue? Jealous?" Sakura asked and then shook her head. "Tomoyo really?"

"Come on. Think about it. You and Yue are closer than you think you know. I know for a fact you tell him things you don't even tell me," Tomoyo said.

"That's because you like to meddle."

"And that's fine. I'm not offended," Tomoyo assured. "I'm just saying it's only natural that after all this time Yue would get a little lonely and feel a little neglected because of you spending so much time with Syaoran, especially when you didn't tell him why to begin with."

Sakura had to admit it made sense, but still… Yue? Her cold and aloof moon guardian jealous? Her borderline anti-social moon guardian jealous? She couldn't fathom it. Yue didn't seem like the jealous type and he hadn't seemed jealous to her, just being very overprotective. Then again, she had been spending a lot of time with Syaoran lately. And Yue would never just openly say he wanted to spend some time with her or just enjoy her company. He was very guarded when it came to saying how he felt, which was why Sakura had learned to read the subtle things he did. Now that she thought about it, Yue wasn't this protective of her. Maybe…

Sakura looked at Tomoyo. "You really think so?"

Tomoyo nodded.

"Oh man," Sakura said hitting her head on the desk as her anger went away and she began to feel bad for blowing up at her guardian like she had. Now that she went back and thought about it, she had detected something akin to loneliness from him but was too angry to think about it. "I feel horrible!"

"I'm sure Yue understands Sakura," Tomoyo said.

"How am I ever going to apologize for this?"

"Don't."

"_Nani_?" Sakura asked.

"I said don't. You know Yue more than anyone. Figure it out."

Later that day in the evening, Sakura sighed and abandoned doing her homework. Her head wasn't into it and she knew until she talked to Yue she wouldn't get anything done. She called the fly card to her aid and flew out the window. It was the first night of a full moon so she knew where he was at. Sure enough she found him there sitting in the clock tower, leaning against a coner with one knee pulled up to his chest and the other leg stretched out in front of him, his head tilted back as the moonlight shone down on him. He didn't notice her so either he was really sleep (Sakura doubted it) or she had finally managed to sneak up on him.

"So beautiful," she muttered before she could stop herself.

Yue's head snapped up and he turned his head in her direction, obviously tense by the unexpected sound, but then he relaxed seeing her.

"Yue…" Sakura began but trailed off. She wanted to say something, to apologize for blowing up at him namely, but couldn't find the words. However, something passed between them, some kind of understanding and Yue smiled a little, leaning his head back again.

Sakura blinked for a moment. She had felt something, but she wasn't sure what it was. Somehow she knew he had understood but there was something else, something she couldn't pinpoint.

"Are you going to keep standing there staring at me?" Yue asked gaining Sakura's attention.

He was telling her to join him in his own way. Sakura smiled and made her way to sit next to him. She settled next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, so Sakura closed her eyes. If she fell asleep, she knew Yue would take her home. But before she dozed off she sighed deeply getting his attention.

"You know I can't read minds either," Sakura said quoting his words from the night before. "You could have just told me you were lonely."

Yue looked at her with the strangest expression she'd ever seen him wear. If she didn't know better, she could swear he wanted to laugh. He didn't though. Sakura wished he had.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I had a good time writing this. I was just sitting around wondering what a jealous Yue would be like and I knew he wouldn't be obviously jealous. It would come out as something else, protectiveness perhaps and so this ended up being written.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	7. Concerns of the Heart

**AN: **What was supposed to be a cute and funny light chapter ended up much heavier, especially when I realized this was a good point to start addressing an issue that I didn't want to blatantly ignore and cast aside for the sake of the realness of this story. I don't know how readers will react to it, but this is only the start of it. Btw, this takes place some months after the last chapter in the summer. It may seem like a large jump, but one thing I don't believe in is wasting time dragging out a story for the sake of not having time jumps. Nothing important happened between the last chapter and this one and if it did, it's not relative to this story and will end up being a side story if anything. So now that that's out the way…

I feel so dumb... See those light gray line breaks? After a year of posting and updating on this site, I'm just figuring out how to insert them on this site. (Shakes head) Such a shame. Enough talking for me.

Read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven<br>Concerns of the Heart**

Summer vacation was no fun when she had no one to spend it with, Sakura decided. All her friends were either busy or on vacation, Tomoyo was in some kind of design program for the summer. Kero was still sleep and Syaoran… Sakura sighed. He went back to China for the summer and she could have gone with him, but she didn't want to for some reason. Sakura sighed again. Who was she kidding? She knew why. She knew _exactly _why. Her heart didn't pound like it used to when she was around him, all her problems gone because she knew as long as he was near, everything was safe. She just didn't know what had changed. There was nothing wrong with him. Syaoran was great. Sakura just didn't feel as strongly for him as she used to. She didn't have the heart to break up with him though. What did she say to him? _It's not you. It's me._ Sakura rolled her eyes at the thought. It sounded like something out of one of those chick flicks.

Sakura glanced at the clock and stood up. She'd mull over it while cooking dinner for herself, her dad, and Kero. She started toward the kitchen before stopping as she felt a shift in the air.

Sighing, she said unenthusiastically, "I know it's you Yue. You can't sneak up on me anymore."

She turned to face the moon guardian, who stood before her in his customary posture with a serene look on his face. It had become something of a game for the two. She knew her reactions when he caught her off guard amused him, but it was rare he could actually do so now.

"I suppose I can't like I used to," he said to her.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she said continuing into the kitchen.

"Your brother suggested it. He said you've been bored lately and could use the company, unless of course you want me to leave," Yue asked.

Sakura smiled at him gratefully.

"No. Stay. I was just about to make some dinner." She paused before asking, "Want to help me?"

"If you want."

"I asked if you wanted to," Sakura pointed out but gestured for him to come to the counter still as she took the ingredients out the refrigerator.

Yue raised an eyebrow. "You're cooking quite a bit."

"I'm bored. There's nothing better to do right now," Sakura replied as she took out a bowl to make batter for her dumplings and a pot out the cabinet.

"Do you want to make the batter or cut up the chicken and vegetables?" she asked him.

Yue shrugged and as he did so, a thought occurred to Sakura.

"Have you ever cooked before?"

"No. I never felt the need to since-."

"You don't eat," Sakura finished. "I'm going to have to rectify that somehow."

"You would be wasting your time mistress," Yue replied as Sakura handed him the knife to chop the vegetables and chicken.

Sakura scowled at him as she began to make her batter, the two falling into a comfortable silence as they worked. But because of that silence, Sakura's thoughts went back to her musings on what to do about Syaoran. She didn't have the heart to break up with him. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. But wouldn't she be hurting him if she kept leading him on knowing she didn't feel as strong for him as she used to?

"Mistress," Yue said softly snapping her out her thoughts.

"Huh?" Sakura blinked and finally she noticed he was done cutting. "Pour some water over it and set it on the stove on high heat."

Yue nodded and went to do so. When he came back, he crossed his arms and stared at her. At first she thought he was watching her make the batter until she noticed it wasn't her hands he was looking at, but her in general. She pressed her lips together to fight down the blush coming to her cheeks. She hadn't been this bashful and uncomfortable around him since she was maybe twelve. She cleared her throat to snap him out of his stare, but he continued to do so. He finally looked away a few minutes later and Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

"What's on your mind?" Yue asked suddenly startling her as she went to wash her hands of the dough.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"You're distracted," said Yue.

"What makes you say that?"

"I called you five times earlier," he deadpanned.

Sakura blushed as she took out the ingredients for desert. She really had been distracted.

"You probably don't want to hear about it. It's silly girl stuff," Sakura replied.

"It's certainly never stopped you before," Yue said dryly though Sakura swore he was teasing her.

She turned redder at the truth in Yue's words. He was right about that. As long as he listened, she would tell him. So she sighed and began to explain.

"I'm having issues with my love life," she admitted.

A look crossed Yue's face that Sakura didn't quite know how to read or describe. At best, she assumed he was regretting asking her about her problems. Yue wasn't the best person to talk to when it came to feelings for the mere fact that he was so guarded with his own. Therefore, when it came to talking about emotions, the moon guardian could actually seem colder and more distant than normal.

"Oh," he finally said giving her the cue to continue anyway despite the discomfort she sensed from him.

"I… I'm just not sure about me and Syaoran anymore is all."

"What brought this on?" Yue asked. "Did he do something?"

Sakura sensed that he was becoming overprotective with her and quickly said, "No it's nothing he did. He's great."

"Then what?"

"I just don't feel as strongly as I used to feel for him. I love him, but not in the way I used to. More like close friends, a brother even," Sakura replied. "I don't know…"

Sakura continued to make her desert and when she didn't get an answer from Yue, she looked up to see him apparently pondering her words and trying to figure out what to say. She smiled. He was trying to figure out how to say what he wanted without being so blunt as he could be when it came to emotions and she was the only person he would do it for. Everyone else had to live with his coldness, but not her. However she didn't mind it. His coldness was just part of his personality, what made him Yue and she cared about him deeply despite it. Sometimes she had the feeling she cared too deeply…

"Then why don't you tell him that?" he finally asked.

Sakura looked down at the batter she was making, hiding her eyes from Yue.

"I don't… I don't want to hurt him," she whispered.

Yue put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him.

"Don't cry," he said using his thumb to wipe her tears.

Sakura pulled her face away, not comfortable with how much she liked the moon guardian's touch. She felt different around him lately and she couldn't quite explain it.

"Is it worth not hurting him if you're not happy? You're only going to hurt yourself and him in the end," he pointed out.

"I know. You're right. Still," Sakura said continuing to stir the batter.

Yue didn't say anything else to her on the matter and Sakura was glad. That was another thing she liked about her guardian. He knew when to leave things alone and not to push. She watched as he opted to stand with his arms crossed and eyes closed. She had been noticing a lot about him lately, more than usual anyway. She noticed the way he walked, his graceful movements (a grace she could only hope for one day), the way his beautiful hair fell in his face. It was like she had suddenly started to notice him for the first time. She always thought he was handsome, beautiful even. She had once even told him he was gorgeous, but she had never _really _noticed it. He was just her guardian before but now she was slowly becoming aware of his masculinity. Really aware…

"Oh Kami-sama," she breathed as she realized where her train of thought was heading and looked for something to divert her attention.

She looked back to the pot behind her and then looked at Yue.

"Yue do you think you can drop the dumplings. Do you know how?"

Yue nodded and went to do so while Sakura finished dessert and tried to clear her mind of any thoughts of him. They didn't talk anymore, at least not unless it pertained to the dinner. It wasn't until Sakura sat to enjoy dinner (She didn't bother trying to try to convince Yue to have some. She didn't feel up to it that day) that Yue noticed she seemed to have something else to say as she was only staring at her food at first before shooting random glances at him. He didn't say anything about it at first, not until she asked him if he could grab her a glass out the cabinet. He had a feeling it was because whatever she wanted to ask she didn't quite want to say it to his face and waited for her to say something while he was up.

"Yue?"

"Hm?"

Sakura blushed and began to play with her food as she said, "I was just wondering… I-Can I ask you something?"

"I think you just did."

Sakura smiled a little at the barely perceptible teasing tone before frowning. Whatever she wanted to say was serious, Yue gathered as he filled the glass up with water.

"What… What was your relationship with Clow like?"

He had learned not to be shocked by anything his mistress did or said anymore. In her innocence, he learned she could be very unpredictable and spontaneous. The older she got, the more predictable she became as she lost her innocent thinking in some things and grew in her magic. It had been a long time since she had completely taken him off guard. But her sudden question shocked the hell out of him, so bad that he dropped the glass of water he had gotten for her.

Sakura jumped out her chair to clean up the glass.

"I'm sorry!" she said blushing. "I didn't mean to."

Yue snapped out his shocked induced stupor and shook his head.

"No it's fine."

"No it's not. I shouldn't have asked. I shouldn't have-."

"But what…?" Yue couldn't finish as he looked at her. No doubt her problems with her own love life had brought on the question, at least partially. There seemed to be something else to her request as she was carefully avoiding his eyes as she swept up the glass.

"I'm sorry. I was just… Well I know a lot of it's personality, but sometimes I get the feeling that your distance sometimes has more to do with that. Even with me there's only so far you'll go before closing off and I thought it might have something to do with Clow…"

Well everyone knew that. It was kind of an unspoken rule to everyone who knew him that they didn't ask about his relationship with his past master. Not even Cerberus knew everything and no one was brave enough to ask. Besides, she was right. Most of them after a while just chalked it up to personality and much of it was. Cerberus could attest to that one. But only his mistress would be able to really detect something else there. She had known as an eleven year old girl but was considerate enough to let him have his privacy and though they were much closer now than they were when she was eleven, this was pushing it.

"You don't have to tell me. I shouldn't have brought it up," Sakura whispered.

"No," Yue said tensely. "You shouldn't have."

Sakura sighed, feeling stupid for asking the question to begin with. She shouldn't have said anything and she didn't know what for the life of her made her want to ask right then. It had something to do with how uncomfortable she noticed he was when she was talking about her and Syaoran and it occurred to her that there was some reason Yue feared talking about emotion and her mind went back to when she was younger and asked him if he loved Clow. He confirmed it, but she didn't know much more about it than that.

She stopped pondering when she saw him leave the room. Sakura only stared after him for all of two seconds before going after him to try to stop him from leaving.

"Yue," she said and the moon guardian stopped at her call.

He could never just ignore her. Not only would it have not been proper, but he cared too much for her to hurt her like that. Sometimes he thought he cared too much.

Sakura walked around him to stand in front of them, hesitation and uncertainty apparent in her eyes before she went forward and hugged him. Yue didn't respond, still a little miffed at her and now surprised. There was only one time he could ever remember her hugging him like this. Sure she might do something like wrap her arm around him, but she understood he liked his space. It was near this spot and she was almost thirteen at the time.

"Don't be mad. Forget I asked," she said to him. "You don't have to say anything."

He hadn't planned to, but the fact that she understood made his irritation with her go away and he sighed putting a hand on her back.

Yue's touch surprised her. He'd never done that before and… well, she liked it, much more than she thought she should have. This was what was missing with Syaoran, this feeling of never wanting to let go, time stopping, and knowing nothing that would bring her more contentment. Then it occurred to her, if she was more content and happy with Yue, what did it really say about her relationship with Syaoran, that she felt more comfort and peace in another's arm?

"Hoe," Sakura whispered. This wasn't good…

"What?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked looking up at him.

"You said hoe," Yue replied.

Sakura blushed. "It's nothing."

He didn't believe her, she could sense it, but he didn't press her to tell him anything.

"Am I interrupting?"

Sakura could practically hear the grin in his voice as she jumped away from Yue. Yue glared at his brother just daring him to say something. He did.

"Don't mind me," Kero said flying into the kitchen. "I'm just getting dinner."

Sakura didn't know whether to be relieved that Kero came down or angry that he had ruined the moment. She resisted the urge to groan. She shouldn't be feeling like this. Yue was her guardian and that was just it. That's why she had felt so comfortable in his arms. After years of protecting her, fighting by her side, it was only natural that she felt safe with him, comfortable, at peace, like nothing could go wrong as long as he was with her.

"Are you okay?" Yue asked. "You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine," Sakura said quickly and Yue quirked his eyebrow in disbelief, but said nothing as he went back into the kitchen and not a moment later, Kero yelled, "OW! Yue I'm gonna-."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Okay, so I leave it up to you to decide though I was pretty pleased with this chapter. This chapter ended up being more serious than and solemn than I intended it to be. There was supposed to be a cute and funny little scene with Sakura trying to get Yue to eat something as she cooked dinner, but it wasn't working and so I backtracked and the thing with Clow came up instead. Now I stand exactly where the manga and the Japanese anime fall when it comes to Yue and Clow's relationship. Meaning, because both are ambiguous about it, so am I and from story to story, you'll see me with different views (just talk to my _Star Wars_ fic readers) based on the story. The only thing that is quite clear to me in both the anime and the manga (well, more so the anime for me) is that Yue was definitely in love with Clow and I didn't want to disregard that like some writers tend to, nor did I want to disregard Sakura's relationship with Syaoran. For all my alternate universes, there are some things in canon I like to stick to up to a point. I don't like to disregard it completely.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	8. Sakura's Heartache

**AN: **Hey people. Okay so I finally decided my update days. I usually decided based on reception, number of reviews, traffic through a fandom and so I'm going with twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, most likely in the more instead of randomly like I've been doing. So that's the concrete updating schedule. Mondays and Thursdays before noon.

As for comments on this chapter, I'll make them at the end.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight<br>Sakura's Heartache**

Tomoyo waited patiently for Sakura to come down and answer the door. They were supposed to meet at her house so Tomoyo could fit a new outfit she was making for Sakura. But apparently her best friend had forgotten. It was no problem though. She was only a phone call away. However, Sakura didn't pick up and that in itself was odd. So she made her way to the house in concern for the girl. Kero ended up answering the door.

"Hello Tomoyo," he said to her.

"Hi Kero," Tomoyo said with a frown. "Is Sakura here?"

Kero frowned and crossed his arms saying, "Yeah she's here, but she's acting strange. She's sitting in her room just staring out the window. Even the cards are concerned. I can't get anything out of her."

"Can I come see?" Tomoyo asked and Kero nodded, floating aside for the girl to come in. She closed the door behind her and made her way into Sakura's room.

"Sakura?" she asked poking her head in the door and sure enough seeing her sitting and staring out the window, some of the cards floating around her in concern.

"Hm?" Sakura said absently.

Tomoyo walked towards her and noticing her presence, the cards let her through and then settled back into their place on Sakura's desk.

Tomoyo put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine," she said sighing.

"Doesn't sound like it," Tomoyo pointed out. "What's on your mind?"

Sakura sighed and went over to her bed while saying, "Me and Syaoran broke up."

Tomoyo was glad she wasn't holding her camera in her hand because she would have surely dropped it. Sakura was never usually this straight forward, not only that but Tomoyo hadn't been expecting _that_ to be her announcement.

"What?" both she and Kero said together.

"He broke up with you!" Tomoyo added.

"No," Sakura said lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. "I broke up with him."

Again, Tomoyo was glad she wasn't holding her camera.

"What? Why? What happened?"

Sakura turned on her side. "Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" Tomoyo replied. "I thought… Don't you love him?"

"Yes, just not in the same way and I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't lead him on like that," Sakura replied.

Tomoyo blinked. Lead him on. This didn't just sound like a case of falling out of love with someone.

"There's someone else isn't there?"

"I don't know."

Good enough. "Who?"

Sakura didn't answer only turning to her other side so that her back was facing Tomoyo. Tomoyo took it as her cue to leave. Kero followed her out and Tomoyo closed the door behind them.

"This is… Wow."

"She's been acting like this for a while, especially since that kid came back from his vacation. I don't know what happened between then and now, but Sakura wouldn't just do this on a whim. She gave this some serious thought," Kero explained.

"Whoever it is must be one heck of a guy. But it's so unexpected. You mean to tell me she's been keeping all this inside," Tomoyo asked in awe.

"Maybe not," Kero said seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"Sakura tells Yue everything if only for the mere fact that she knows he won't say anything to anyone else about it because he doesn't think there's anything to gain from gossip," Kero replied. "He might know something if we can get it out of him."

"We?"

"Well, he's not going to talk to you, is he?"

* * *

><p>"I know they're close," Tomoyo said as they stood and waited for either Toya or Yukito to answer the door. "But you really think she would have told him something?"<p>

"Yue knows a lot more about Sakura than people know. All guardians do in fact. We're her biggest confidences and it's our duty not to say anything if she doesn't want us to. But Yue and Sakura have a different kind of bond than the one I have with her. He just knows things about her. Trust me. He knows something about this," Kero assured as the door opened.

Toya raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Well this is a surprise," he said. "If you're looking for Sakura, she's not here."

"We know," Tomoyo said and suddenly felt weird asking about this. "We're here to… to."

Kero flew past Toya shouting, "Yue!"

Tomoyo looked at Toya apologetically and he sighed shaking his head and stepping aside to let her in. By the time they caught up with Kero, Yue was already sitting where Yukito had just been with what could only be called an annoyed expression.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"What's your problem?" Kero asked. "You're in a worse mood than usual."

Yue sighed. "It's nothing. Why are you here?"

"Big meanie," Kero muttered before continuing, "Do you have any idea what's wrong with Sakura?"

Yue shrugged a little. "No."

"Don't play dumb!" Kero said flying up to his brother's face and then wisely backing up when he narrowed his cat-like eyes. "You had to have noticed something. She's been acting quiet all day. At first I thought you might have rubbed off on her, but now I don't think so."

"Why?" Yue asked.

"Because," Tomoyo said speaking to him for the first time. "She broke up with Syaoran."

Yue only turned to stare at her briefly, the only indication he gave that he might have been surprised. But in truth, he wasn't. They didn't need to know that though.

"Oh?"

"So what do you know?" Kero asked.

"What makes you think I know anything?"

"Yue!" Kero yelled in frustration. "Come on!"

Yue wondered since when was he the person to come to when his mistress was having problems in her personal life.

"I hope you all don't want me to convince her to go back to him," he said dryly (much to Kero's frustration). What was he? A counselor or something?

"You're the last person I'd go to if that was the case," said Kero.

Noticing everyone was waiting on him to answer, Yue finally said, "I'll admit, I've noticed it and I've sensed something was off."

Kero still wasn't satisfied.

"You know more! Stop holding out."

"And if you value your existence you'll stop bothering me," Yue shot.

"That's it," Kero became his true form and made to do what looked like pounce on Yue.

"Hold on!" Toya yelled. "Not in here. You'll wreck the place!"

It was no use, and it wasn't helping that Yue narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in something of a dare to Cerberus. Toya groaned. The last time the two of them had gotten to fighting it took Sakura to get them apart. But since Sakura wasn't here, it appeared this would get very ugly.

"Yue," Tomoyo said calmly. "Can I talk to you in private?"

Yue and Cerberus glared at each other for a few more tense moments before Yue nodded. Toya left the room and after a moment, Cerberus reluctantly followed muttering under his breath about mean moon guardians who took their duty way too seriously.

Tomoyo looked at Yue trying to calm her nerves. She had only ever spoken to him a handful of times and usually in Sakura's presence where Sakura acted something of the buffer between them. But Sakura wasn't here now and it was quite possible that Yue would only listen to her just for the sake of it and then coldly dismiss her.

"Could you hurry up?" Yue said when he deemed she was being silent too long.

"Yeah. I just…" Tomoyo sighed and pushed her nervousness aside. "Yue please. I don't like seeing Sakura like this and she won't tell me what's wrong. She said she was the one who broke up with Syaoran, but she seems so sad and confused about something else. If you know anything it would help."

Yue stared at her, seeming to be in debate and it dawned on Tomoyo that the way to get Yue to lighten up to her was to talk about all this in direct relation to Sakura, it was almost as though Sakura were in the room telling him to relax. Finally he sighed and closed his eyes.

"I don't know much, only that the only time she mentioned it to me she said she didn't feel as strongly for Li as she used to and that she didn't want to hurt him by breaking up with him. That's all I know on the matter."

Tomoyo looked away and bit her lip. Then she turned back to Yue, now convinced that Sakura had left Syaoran for someone else.

"Do you know who it is?"

Yue looked at her in confusion. "Who?"

Tomoyo looked down at her feet. "Sakura... The way she was talking earlier got me to thinking that that's not the only reason she broke up with Syaoran. I think there's someone else…"

"Pardon?" Yue said and Tomoyo looked up, surprised at his tone.

She heard something in that response. It wasn't surprise, but something me akin to sourness and jealousy maybe?

"I said I think she's in love with someone else, but confused about her feelings or something," Tomoyo said. She frowned as she looked at Yue who was now looking past her in thought.

"I was wondering… Can you-?"

Yue only nodded as he stood up and started to exit the room.

"Yue?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you... For taking care of Sakura and everything. She's so willing to help everyone else that she sometimes forgets about her own happiness. She's really lucky to have a guardian like you."

Yue looked back at her and Tomoyo swore he smiled, but with Yue she could never be sure. Then he turned and left the room, the front door opening and closing indicating when he left the apartment. It was only after she left that Tomoyo really realized what she said and put her hand to her mouth as she gasped. Now that she thought about it, the answer to her question had been obvious.

* * *

><p>She wasn't at home when he got there and so Yue had to think where she'd go on a hot summer afternoon like this. It would have to be somewhere cool as she didn't like to use the cards unnecessarily. It definitely wouldn't be Tokyo Tower as that was where he went to think. His head went back to years ago, when Sakura didn't even know that he existed inside Yukito where he saw through his disguise Sakura falling from a cliff and then her later telling his false form that she saw her mother. It had turned out to be the ILLUSION card, but still…<p>

Yue was glad he had gone with his hunch as he found her there, near the cliff, lying in the grass staring at the sky.

"You know," he said. "You really shouldn't just up and disappear like that."

"HOE!" Sakura yelped startled and Yue held back a smile. It had been a while since he scared her like that.

"Yue!" she exclaimed.

"My apologies," he replied.

"You're not sorry," she grumbled and then relaxed as she continued to stare at the sky.

"Cerberus and Daidouji told me you weren't yourself," Yue said bluntly.

"What did they tell you?"

"You broke up with Li."

"Were you surprised?"

"After what you told me a few weeks ago, I suppose I wasn't in a way. I just didn't know you would act this soon," Yue admitted.

Sakura sighed and patted the spot next to her. "Come lay next to me Yue."

Yue looked at the spot on the ground and then at Sakura with an eyebrow raised. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Really Yue," she said sighing. "I'll brush your hair for you later."

Yue let out a nearly inaudible sigh. He really wished Cerberus hadn't told her that about his peculiar ways when it came to his hair. He went and laid next to her with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. Sakura laughed as she put her hand on his arm.

"Relax Yue. A little dirt won't kill you," she said pulling his arm from across his chest.

He started to frown, but relaxed at her touch, putting his other arm down next to him. Neither spoke for a long time as Sakura was content looking at the sky and Yue wasn't one to start conversation anyway.

Finally Sakura said, "I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't lead him on like that for the sake of not hurting him. I think it would have been worse if I waited. I wouldn't receive his affections and then break his heart."

"Tomoyo thinks it's more than that."

Sakura made a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a groan. "I wish she were wrong but…"

"Who?" Yue asked in an indifferent tone, but Sakura knew better. He was being all protective again.

"It's complicated. I'm not even sure what I feel."

"It must be strong if it's making you act like this."

"_Hai_," Sakura muttered. "But it doesn't matter. I don't think he cares about me like that. I know he cares, but I don't know if it'll ever be the way I'd like him to. He's got his own love problems."

"So he doesn't feel the same way," Yue said quietly in his own thoughts. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Sakura said as she absently moved the hand that was on his arm down to his hand to grasp it. "You sound like you know a lot of about unrequited love."

Yue tensed and Sakura grasped his hand tighter to help relax him. She didn't want him to react like he did the last time she brought it up.

"You loved him a lot didn't you?"

"You already know the answer to that," Yue said quietly.

"And did he love you?"

"Yes…"

"But not in the same way," Sakura replied. "He didn't want to hurt you so he didn't stop it."

The only confirmation she got was Yue closing his eyes. But she didn't need him to answer. She sensed that it was the truth and leaned her head on his shoulder closing her eyes.

"That's why you're so cold. You're afraid of being rejected and led on again, but on the flip side you don't want to mistakenly lead anyone else on," Sakura added.

Yue sighed. "I see you've been developing your skills in empathy."

"You force me too. It comes easy with everyone else," Sakura replied smiling at the comment and then sat up to look at him seriously.

Felling her shadow over him, Yue opened his eyes, confusion apparent.

"You know I'd never do that to you right? And that if you feel I am you can tell me?" Sakura asked.

It was apparent he was confused by what she meant by her statement. But Sakura didn't elaborate and so Yue didn't ask as she lay back down and leaned on his arm again.

"Yue?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> This isn't the last time this thing with Clow comes up and we eventually get it from Yue's point of view. I thought the dialogue between Tomoyo and Yue was interesting to write because it's not usually two people you think to talk to each other. As for Sakura breaking you with Syaoran, I remember telling my sister I wanted this to be as canon as possible even though it's an AU (I'm not dealing with the other universe that crosses over with it and has them as clones or whatever. Too complicated and wasn't interested). But that meant I had to figure out how these two were going to break apart. I didn't want the typical clichés that make Syaoran the bad guy (cheating, deciding to marry Meilin, a big fight, not liking her to begin with only wanting her power etc.) and so that meant I had to look at Sakura. So in trying to keep with the feel and tone of the anime and manga, I thought it would be pretty in character of her to be stuck in between a rock and a hard place if something like this had happened in canon (it didn't and I accept that). I also didn't want to focus on the break up, which is why there isn't a scene for it and we end up maybe three weeks or so after the last chapter dealing with what happens after they break up, which is what counted for the story.

So I was pretty pleased with it. I hope you were too.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	9. Broodings

**AN: **I don't normally write things like this, but this chapter was one of the first things I came up with when I originally got the idea for this story. I can't tell you why that was the case, but it was and this is what I ended up with. Be the judge and tell me what you think

Read, enjoy, and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine<br>Broodings**

There was a sober mood in the room instead of the laughs and joy that had been present the entire week. Sakura had a way of bringing everyone together whether for good or for the worse. Everyone had managed to clear out two weeks of the summer to spend in Japan for a sort of reunion as they hadn't had everyone together at the same time in years. Sakura even managed to get Syaoran to join them (despite the tension between the two) and Meiling to fly in from China. When Yue heard about it, he decided it was safer for his own sanity not to make an appearance for those two weeks. Sakura pointed out that it would be rude, but Yue added that it was better not to be there then to appear and not talk to anyone. She had no choice but to concede. However, they hadn't been together all of three days before they sensed something in the air, some type of dark magic and so reluctantly Yue did make a few appearances which were spent keeping an eye on his mistress and warding Nakuru off with glares.

Just as he and every magic user had sensed, the attack came. No one was quite sure what it was only that it had a scythe for a weapon, the source of its power and it looked a little like one of those scary (supposedly in Yue's opinion) grim reapers in those American movies Cerberus liked to watch. It was fast though and Sakura was hardly able to summon a card before she was forced to move out the way. Yue grabbed her before it could strike again and flew out the door with her in the blink of an eye. It would be easier to fight whatever it was out in the open. Cerberus followed just as quickly. The three apparently made quick work of the beast as by the time everyone else had gotten there, the reaper was nowhere to be found. But no one noticed that yet.

What they did notice was Yue and Sakura facing each other, her hand nursing a bruise on his shoulder and a light blush coloring her cheeks as they spoke to each other. Then Cerberus rolled his eyes at the two and said something that made Sakura blush harder and Yue glare at him for ruining the moment he hadn't quite been aware of. They shouldn't have let themselves get distracted so easily. When it came to magic, defeating the opponent never meant it was truly over. In their distraction the remaining energy of the 'reaper' gathered to create a forceful attack. It took them by surprise and was coming too fast for the three to do anything but brace themselves for it. Sakura however had other ideas and threw herself in the path of the attack, collapsing in Yue's arms.

Hence the sober mood they were presently in.

Uncomfortable silences like these bothered the hell out of Meiling and everyone was tense. Eriol said Sakura was okay with a slight fever, but she hadn't woken up yet and being together just wasn't the same as when the lively girl was amongst them. However, worst of all was Yue. Meiling had noticed it right away during the rare times she had seen the moon guardian out. He was distant as ever, she immediately noticed as she remembered him that way from one of the few times they had met. But he was different with Sakura. Meiling wasn't sure if it was because of their relationship as mistress and guardian or if it was something else _at first_. Then she saw how Sakura would slip away from the group every now and then to check on her moon guardian or even disappear with him completely. And when they thought no one was looking (not to mention each other) they would steal glances, only to catch each other and blush. Now she was _definitely _sure it was something else.

Meiling glanced outside to where Yue was. He wouldn't come in the house. It was obvious he felt guilt for not stopping her, for not being able to shield her, but Meiling noticed something else that had briefly crossed his face when he caught her earlier before he composed himself to carry her home; intense fear.

She crossed her arms in irritation closing her eyes. Now wasn't the time to ask. There would be a time to investigate this later when everyone was together and Yue and Sakura weren't in the room…. Yeah right. The opportunity was just too tempting and so finally she decided to ask about what had been bugging her for the entire visit but what everyone else had been content to ignore or at least stay quiet about.

"Alright," she said loudly. "Somebody tell me what's going on with Sakura and Mr. Moon Guardian and don't tell me no one's noticed it because it's so subtle it is obvious!"

Everyone looked at her but Meiling held her ground as she looked at everyone expectantly, just waiting for them to answer her.

"Well don't ask us," Nakuru said. "We just got here. Although I must say I've noticed it as well. Those two are close."

"Well of course," Spinel said rolling his eyes. "He's her guardian."

"No," Meiling said stubbornly. "You didn't see what I saw earlier. That's more than just guilt because he failed to protect her. Somebody tell me what's going on."

"Well why don't we asked them. They see them all the time," Eriol suggested looking in Tomoyo, Toya, Cerberus, and Syaoran's direction.

"Don't look at me," Syaoran said shaking his head. "I don't know what's going on. All I know is that Sakura's been acting strange since before we broke up."

Meiling looked at Syaoran for a moment. It was obvious he was still a little bothered by that. But she was satisfied with his answer looked at the remaining three.

"Alright you three. Spill!"

Toya, Tomoyo, and Cerberus exchanged a glance. Toya looked conflicted (not quite sure how to handle what they all suspected), Cerberus exasperated, and Tomoyo and knowing smile on her face.

"Well isn't it obvious," Kaho asked everyone speaking for the first time since everything had happened.

"Isn't what obvious?" Syaoran asked.

Tomoyo sighed as she said with a dreamy look on her face, "They're in love!"

Tomoyo was oblivious to the stares of disbelief she was getting as she said, "_Kawaii_! They make a beautiful couple, the moon and the star, a perfect match."

"Tomoyo," Syaoran said. "Really?"

"Of course. Sakura's been pining for him for weeks and trying to deny it. It wasn't until after I talked to Yue that I realized who it was," Tomoyo said dreamily.

"I wouldn't go that far," Cerberus said. "But she's right. It's something along those lines."

"Since when?" Nakuru asked intrigued.

Cerberus sighed and grumbled, "Since forever. Long before it became obvious anyway."

"Cerberus is right," Eriol said. "I noticed it on her thirteenth birthday but refrained from mentioning it."

"That's two years," Syaoran pointed out aware that this was before he came back from Hong Kong.

"Two years! That long!" Meiling asked. She really needed to come back to Japan more often.

"I sensed it early on, but I didn't think anything would come of it," Toya said. "We could all just be looking into too much. Wouldn't it be natural for the two of them to share some type of bond with Yue being her guardian and all?"

"Yeah," Cerberus said. "But their bond is a different kind of bond than the one I share with Sakura."

"Well then it looks like Clow's prediction came true, not in the way he expected but…" Eriol trailed off and shrugged.

"Well that explains why he's more distant than usual," Meiling replied.

Tomoyo sighed again putting her hand on her face. "And to think Yue doesn't realize it and Sakura's confused. I'll have to help rectify it of course."

"I think the last thing they need is any of your meddling," Syaoran said to her.

"You're no fun," Tomoyo huffed.

"Still," MeiLing said sighing. "This is weird even for Yue."

Everyone looked to where the man stood outside watching the stars, arms crossed and an unreadable expression on his face.

"Still," Nakuru said. "Do you really think…?"

"Yue's always been a complicated person, even more so since…" Eriol sighed. If Yue didn't get his act together, he was going to miss what had been in front of him and by the time he did, the opportunity would be gone. "I think I'll go see if he's alright."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Spinel asked.

"Trust me," Eriol said. "This talk has been a long time coming."

* * *

><p>It shouldn't have happened. He shouldn't have let his guard down. He had sensed the energy in the air still but thought it was just the lingering presence of the reaper. Catlike eyes narrowed at the stars in the sky, the moon nowhere to be seen, a new moon. How could he have failed her like that? He was supposed to protect her, not the other way around. Then again, that was how his mistress was. She had always been that way. He had a feeling she wouldn't have let him protect her if he had tried. She cared too much. Yue could tell in the way her first concern was his bruised shoulder, the way she caressed it and the way she stopped and blushed when he told her it was okay while Cerberus rolled his eyes and said, "I got hurt too!" Yue sighed. Still…<p>

"Yue."

Yue blinked out his stupor and then narrowed his eyes when he finally recognized the voice.

"What do you want Hiragizawa?" he asked.

Eriol sighed. "You really should let this go."

"Let what go?"

"You know I'm not Clow. You can't take out your bitter feelings about all that on me and you can't hold onto it forever. If you do, you'll miss what he saw coming for you," Eriol explained looking up at the stars with Yue.

"What are you talking about?" Yue asked exasperated and mentally weary more than anything, but knowing he wasn't going to rest until he was positive his mistress was okay.

Eriol didn't say anything for a moment and Yue found himself getting more and more irritated by Clow's reincarnation than ever.

Finally the boy said, "So how do you feel about Sakura?"

Yue blinked, caught off guard by the question. He remembered years ago when the boy asked him a similar question and he hadn't answered. What had there been to say to the question? At the time she was perhaps about twelve, maybe going on twelve if he thought about it, and a little girl who barely knew how to control her magic. He had grown fond of her, that was for sure, but that was it. There hadn't been a reason for him to answer him and so he hadn't, though he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not at the time. Hiragizawa was like his mistress and she interpreted silence in the way that suited her best. However, the same somewhat cynical feelings and thoughts he had before didn't come up like that, instead there was something else entirely different and before he could compose himself, he found himself sighing almost wistfully.

Eriol grinned. "Well that's more than I got on you last time. So I take that as a confession coming from you."

"You're insane," Yue said bluntly.

"Something I probably got from my past self."

Yue rolled his eyes and said, "What's your point?"

"You just don't want to admit how you feel about her because you're afraid."

Yue started to ignore and tune the boy out. He would not listen to this nonsense.

"You're afraid that if you take closely examine your feelings enough, you'll be unable to deny that you care about Sakura more than you're convinced a guardian should," Eriol pointed out. "You're not just out here because you feel guilty. It's because you feel something else…"

Yue couldn't ignore that comment. How in the world had this child who hadn't seen him in years and who he had barely said two or three words to over the course of the week figured that out? How had he known all this? Yue didn't say anything in response, only closed his eyes. It was true enough. He had been battling it for a while, all under the guise of simply being a protective and dutiful guardian to his mistress. But along the way, something had started to change and he hadn't been quite sure what it was, at least not until earlier that evening. He hadn't known fear like that until she stood in front of him to protect him, to see her fall into his arms like that, to see her lying on the bed unreactive to any external prompting. He knew this feeling or at least he thought he did. It was even stronger than what he felt for Clow and to be honest, it scared the hell out of Yue.

"I thought so," Eriol said to him.

"I'd like it if you went away," Yue snapped. He had enough to deal with as it was.

"Just one more thing," Eriol said not at all bothered by Yue's apparent bad mood.

Yue sighed in response.

"Why are you so afraid?"

He left after that, leaving Yue to his own thoughts on the matter. He hated how it seemed like Hiragizawa could read his mind and force him to confront his own thoughts. What was he afraid of? Yue knew, though he had never admitted it to himself. After everything that happened with Clow, he just wasn't sure. But it was completely unreasonable. His mistress was much different than Clow had been. Clow had been a good master to him, but he had his faults, faults that Yue had been very well aware of but turned a blind eye to because of his love for him. But in doing so, it only led to Clow being forced to hurt him in the end, albeit reluctantly and not that the man had wanted to. To be quite honest, Yue should have known. He had known how it would end and part of that made him afraid that if he admitted what he was feeling this time around because he didn't want it to end the same way.

His mind went back to the conversation he had with his mistress after she broke up with Li… She wasn't like that. She was too pure hearted to lead someone along which was why as soon as she realized her feelings lied elsewhere she broke off her relationship with him. Yue almost groaned. Here he was thinking about how she would react and he wasn't even quite sure what he felt about her. Not only that, but she had admitted to him that there was someone else and she hadn't asked her who it was (he'd figure it out later or she'd tell him one). Even more immediate than that, though, was that she still hadn't awakened and though Eriol had assured everyone she would be fine, Yue couldn't shake the concern and fear he felt for her.

Why had she acted so stupid as to put herself at risk like that? He knew what she would say. "It's what friends do." But she was a little more than just a friend or a mistress to him (that much he was willing to admit to himself). If something happened to her he'd… He didn't know what he'd do.

Yue shook his head of the thought. She'd be perfectly fine. There was nothing for him to worry about in those respects. If only he could convince his heart of that…

* * *

><p>Sakura moaned as she awoke, snuggling further into the comfort of her blankets, not really wanting to be awake yet. She felt achy and sore. All she wanted to do was rest in bed… That was until she remembered why she was feeling this way. Sakura shot up in bed and grabbed for her clock, looking at the time. It was late, early in the morning really, but sensed everyone was still downstairs in concern for her. She smiled in gratefulness as she put the clock down and carefully started to get out of bed, only to decide to rest for a while until the aches in her body lessened. If they had waited this long, everyone would still be there in a few minutes even Yue…<p>

Normally Sakura had a difficult time reading his emotions, even with her empathetic senses. He was always so guarded with his emotions, even when he did let one or two slip through a crack for only her to see. The only emotion he probably showed quite frequently around others was annoyance, but tonight was different. His emotions weren't as closely guarded as they usually were, not as open as other people, but certainly more apparent so that she noticed them like he was broadcasting them to her (which she was sure he wasn't). Sakura lied back on the bed feeling his concern and anger. She wasn't surprised at the anger part. She figured he might be a little mad at her for throwing herself in front of the attack. He might even give her the cold shoulder for a while. But Yue didn't understand, though Sakura supposed it was her fault for not being honest with him to begin with. However, it was better this way. It wasn't that she was afraid he would reject her. She could live with that, but she was afraid of how he'd react in general. She didn't want him to be cold and aloof to her because he couldn't accept how she felt. Yue wasn't generally good at dealing with his own emotions, let alone other's.

It was new for her too. At first Sakura thought it was just because he was her moon guardian and naturally she had some type of attraction and love for him. But the more it plagued her, the more she realized this was different. It wasn't like what she'd feel around her brother, which was what she assumed that kind of love would feel like and so for weeks she had examined exactly how she felt, starting with why she suddenly didn't feel this way about Syaoran anymore or even if she ever had felt that way. What clenched it was that day he helped her cook and she stupidly asked about his and Clow Reed's relationship. She felt so safe with him, even though he had done nothing but put his hand on her back to hold her there. But not even just safe, content, peaceful, like there was nothing else in the world she needed or wanted so long as Yue was there with her. That day was what led her to break up with Syaoran. Although she was still confused about her feelings for her guardian, even now, she knew it wasn't right to be feeling like this and leading him on like that.

Then Sakura felt something else from Yue. Something that felt like conflict and confusion, but Sakura wasn't sure what it was about. So finally she stood up out of bed, slowly, shakily and made her way quietly down the stairs.

Eriol noticed her first and with a grin said, "You really shouldn't have got out the bed. We were all planning to stay the night anyway."

From that point everyone came to stand around her in concern and making sure she was okay. Sakura was fine with that and grateful, but they weren't the reason she had come downstairs. She had come down in her concern for what she was feeling from her moon guardian. Sakura looked around the room to see if she would find him standing off to the side by himself as usual but no doubt watching her.

He wasn't in the room thought and so before Sakura could even try to stop herself she asked, "Where's Yue?"

Everyone stopped and then exchanged glances. Sakura briefly wondered what that was about until she looked out the sliding glass doors and saw Yue in the back yard. She walked past everyone and out the door walking to stand a few feet behind him, not sure what to say to him.

Yue was very aware of her presence and she detected that when he sighed in relief, still concerned, but no longer worried for her imminent well being. She sensed his fear leave, but still detected the conflict, confusion, and anger she sensed before. So she put a hand on his arm to get his attention. He turned to her and their eyes met. Years of being around him had made Sakura very proficient at reading his eyes, even when her empathy failed her. It was different than usual. There was something there, something that had always been there, but she had never been able to discern. However it was always in a lesser degree, carefully hidden away, unlike tonight where it was much more prominent mixd with what had to be confusion and conflict about it.

"Yue," she said to him with a smile. "It will surely be alright."

Yue looked down, his bangs hiding his eyes and Sakura blinked at him in confusion.

"Yue," she said putting her hand on his face.

He shook his head and to her amazement, she felt something: tears.

"Yue…"

"Damn it," he said.

"What? Eek!" Sakura exclaimed and Yue suddenly embraced her. After her initial shock though, she relaxed into his embrace.

"You _baka_," he whispered to her.

"Huh?" Sakura said in surprise.

"Sakura, you baka."

Sakura might have been offended by anyone else, but Yue was never one to call names and even if she would have been, she wouldn't have cared.

"You said my name," she whispered in awe enjoying the way it rolled off his tongue.

Yue smiled in her hair.

"I suppose I did," he said looking at her.

"Don't cry Yue," she whispered. "I'm okay."

"I know… But why?"

"Because I care about you Yue," Sakura said with her hand on his face. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"I don't need you to protect me."

Sakura grinned. "I know, but I want to."

Yue sighed, not even bothering to argue with her as he pulled her closer and kissed her on the forehead before leaning his chin on her head.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I don't usually write this kind of stuff. I let others do it and then smile at it (or cringe) but for the most part, it's just not my style. I guess I made it my style this time. So we see significant progress here and then there's the next chapter which was also one of the first ones I came up with. We've still got a ways to go though. You tell me what you thought and since I love playing with the character in CCS just because this is a new fandom for me, I got my chance to play with Meiling.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	10. Conclusions

**AN: **Every time I write a story, I have a chronological time of events in my head. But every time I write a story, the story has a mind of its own and no matter how hard I try not to, it strays from the original timeline I had in place. But that's good. I let it be, because that means the story isn't forced and flows better. Anywho, there was a scene in here that was supposed to take place while Sakura was at school, but it didn't turn out that way and it ended up in this. You'll see. It's not hard to figure out what scene I was talking about. And no, this isn't the last chapter or the conclusion. It's just the title of the chapter.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

**Conclusions**

It was becoming a problem, a problem that no one had foreseen. But the more time Yue and Sakura spent together, the more time he took from Yukito and though Yue still relinquished control to his false form most of the time, for the first time ever it was becoming an inconvenience and a bother for him. Yukito could feel it inside him, the irritation and annoyance and it wasn't stemming from his own emotions. It had been bothering him for a while now. Actually, years ago it had started out as some kind of wistful patient longing, then it became something of restlessness, until now it was full blown irritation and annoyance. It was enough to let him know that something was wrong with his other self and it was certainly something he couldn't fix, which was why Yukito found himself sitting with Sakura and Kero one summer afternoon having tea and some cookies she had made.

"So what's going on?" Sakura asked. "Is everything alright? It's not like you to come over here without at least calling."

"Toya said you would be here," Yukito replied. "So I thought I'd drop by."

Sakura continued to sip her tea with a small smile before saying, "You didn't answer my question. Something is wrong, isn't there?"

Yukito hesitated. "Not with me exactly. But I think there's something wrong with Yue."

Sakura stopped mid-sip to look at Yukito, who felt the stirring in the back of his mind again. Yue didn't like being talked about like he wasn't there and he always was when Yukito was around.

"What do you mean?" she asked putting the tea down to look at him.

Yukito blinked a little in confusion as he took in the obvious worry on her face. But there was something else.

"He's been in a bad mood," Yukito replied.

Kero scoffed. "Yukito, Yue's always in a perpetual bad mood."

"Not like that," Yukito said. "Even then I rarely sense him in my subconscious. But something's really bothering him and he wants me to know it. But I don't know what I can do about it."

Sakura scowled a little and then sighed. "Yue's been a little reserved lately, more than usual anyway. I don't like to pry but if it's affecting you…"

"To you," Kero said smirking. "He's always this way with everyone else."

Sakura ignored the comment as she looked down at the table. That look passed across her face again and Yukito was finally able to pinpoint it. It was the same look Toya would give him when he was concerned, the look a person gave when they were concerned for a lover… Yukito smiled. So that was why Toya hadn't been able to tell him exactly who it was Sakura was rumored to be pining over for the last few days.

"I think maybe you should talk to him," Yukito said setting down his tea.

Sakura nodded as she softly called Yue under her breath and when she looked back up, Yue was sitting in front of her. Kero nearly dropped his cookie. Yukito had been right. Something was obviously wrong with Yue. He looked stoic and neutral as ever, but something about him seemed a little sad, longing, lonely, and weary of something. Of course, Sakura detected it long before Kero figured it out and so crawled around to the other side of the table and moved his arm around her so that she could practically, and quite literally, lie in his lap, a gesture Sakura would later swear was innocent to Kero (he wouldn't believe it).

Tomoyo was going to be mad she missed it when Kero told her about it later. Those two, really, Kero thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. Situations like this were becoming more and more common between the two, especially since a week or so ago after Sakura took that attack to protect Yue. Yue seemed to have come to terms with something that night or at least started to examine his feelings on some matter (namely his feeling about Sakura). If only the two of them would realize what was apparent to everyone and anyone with eyes. Kero sighed. Sakura obviously knew how she felt, but in her loving and caring for Yue didn't want to say anything for his sake. She knew how he was when it came to emotions and she probably didn't want to put her own emotions about him on Yue. But Yue was just stubborn and for all his wisdom, courage, and seriousness, he could be a downright coward when it came to his emotions, more willing to ignore and deny them than face them and risk getting hurt.

Kero held back a sigh. He might take Tomoyo up on her matchmaking plan…

"Yue," Sakura said to him.

"Mistress…"

Sakura scowled. "Don't start that again."

"Sakura," he corrected.

"Are you okay?"

"I suppose," Yue said wearily.

"We'll take that as a no," Kero said. "What's going on? Yukito says you've been moodier than usual."

"I'm aware of what he said," Yue snapped. "And tell him I apologize if I'm a little restless."

"Restless?" Sakura and Kero said.

"Yue, what's this all about?" Sakura asked.

Yue glanced at Kero and then at Sakura before looking down again.

"We'll talk about it later then," Sakura asked as she sighed in contentment and began to play with Yue's hair.

There was a knock on the door a few minutes later. Yue tensed and balled one of his fists in what must have been frustration though his face didn't show it.

"You can relax," Sakura said. "It's just Tomoyo. Come in!"

"Sakura," Tomoyo's voice said.

"In here," Sakura shouted.

"Okay," Tomoyo said. "In here guys."

Before Sakura could even register that Tomoyo was talking to someone else and before Yue could make the transformation back to Yukito, in came Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko.

"Sakura, we heard you haven't been yourself lately and so we decided to come over and cheer you up…"

All of then stopped. Tomoyo gasped and gave Sakura an apologetic look. No one said anything until Rika calmly said with a giggle, "It doesn't look like Sakura needs cheering up."

"Yeah," Chiharu said giggling herself. "Who's this Sakura?"

Sakura sat up feeling her cheeks start to heat up while Yue only raised an eyebrow.

"He's a friend of the family."

"You sure he's not more than a friend?" Naoko teased. "Because it sure looks like he's not just a friend."

Sakura put her hand on her flaming cheeks.

"No… He's not. Yue's my guardian."

Her three school friends looked at each other before saying, "_Kawaii_!"

"It's just like in the movies," Tomoyo said sighing dreamily.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura said mortified.

Tomoyo only continued to grin as she said, "A girl falls in love with her guardian."

The four girls came to sit around the table.

"So, does your brother know you're dating someone so much older than you?" Chiharu asked.

Sakura's mouth opened and closed.

"No… It's-."

"We get it," Naoko said laughing.

"You guys don't tease Sakura," Rika said smiling at her.

Sakura could have died on the spot. She carefully avoided Yue's eyes as she grabbed him by the arm and started to stand up.

"Yue was just leaving," she said.

"No! Why doesn't he stay? You've never introduced us to your boyfriend," Naoko said.

Sakura tipped over onto the floor that time.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this!" Sakura said mortified as she hit her head on the refrigerator while Yue and Kero fixed more tea and sweets since she was too embarrassed to care.<p>

"Well," Kero said trying not to laugh. "Better they think he's your older boyfriend trying on a costume Tomoyo made than suspect anything else if you think about it. At least you don't have to explain that."

"Still, I'm never going to hear the end of this," Sakura said as she turned to Yue.

"I'm so sorry about this," she said to him. "I don't want to have to put you through this."

"As bothersome as this entire situation is, Kero's right. Better to play into what they want to hear or you tell them about your magic," Yue said as he handed her the tray with the tea and cakes on it.

Sakura took them, her cheeks still aflame and then she frowned as she met Yue's eyes.

"You're laughing at me," she said.

"I'd never dream of it, mistress," Yue replied.

"Don't lie," Sakura muttered. "And don't laugh. You don't have to go back to school with them after vacation."

With that she braced herself and made her way back out into the living room. Kero flew to float next to Yue as they stared after her.

"You shouldn't be so mean," he said, though he was grinning at the situation himself.

"There's nothing to get worked up about. It's not true," Yue said dryly.

"But you wish it were," Kero said bluntly. "That's why you've been in such a bad mood. Before, you had nothing you wanted to live for, but now… Now it's different."

Yue didn't respond to the question only crossing his arms apparently trying to distance himself from what was going on outside of him.

"It's no use denying it. Everyone knows it except Sakura," Kero said, "And you'll be a real fool to deny it and let her slip away."

Meanwhile, Sakura was now sure her cheeks would have a permanent red stain on them as the girls began their game of twenty questions with her. Tomoyo had taken out her camera in order to record the occasion.

"Yue… That's a beautiful name," Rika said.

"So who is he? Where's he from?" Chiharu asked.

"He's from around…" Sakura muttered.

"Around where?" Naoko asked.

"Uh… He's Yukito's cousin!" Sakura said snapping her finger. "Yeah… he lives outside the city and visits every now and then."

"So that means you don't see him very often! No wonder you've been so sad lately. You missed him," Rika said.

"Is he the reason you broke up with Syaoran?" Chiharu asked.

Sakura slowly nodded. That part wasn't a lie. Yue was part of the reason she had left Syaoran even if she hadn't been sure of it at the time.

"So when did you meet him?"

Sakura looked at Tomoyo with a pleading look, but her best friend was enjoying herself too much to help her out and so she sighed.

"When I was eleven."

"That's so sweet! You've been friends all this time," said Chiharu.

"How come we've never met him then?" Naoko asked. "I've never seen him around."

Now Sakura could answer that one pretty much truthfully.

"He's not always around and Yue doesn't like people much. He's always been cold and distant, really aloof…"

"Yeah," said Tomoyo and then added dramatically, "But Sakura was able to melt his icy heart."

All of the girls giggled and Sakura glared at Tomoyo who was nonplused.

"So how old is he?" Chiharu asked. "He doesn't look too old."

Sakura almost rolled her eyes. They'd be surprised. Yue was at least a couple of centuries old (she wasn't exactly sure), but she couldn't tell them that.

"Yue's much older than he looks," Tomoyo said making it even harder on Sakura.

"Well he looks twenty-something… So late twenties right?"

Sakura only nodded stiffly. She was really going to kill Tomoyo for this later.

"Twenty-seven to be specific," Tomoyo replied.

Sakura choked on her tea.

"You all will keep this to yourselves though…right?" Sakura asked nervously. The last thing she needed was for this to somehow get back around to her brother, not to mention her father.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with us," Rika said. "We're just glad you're happy."

"Sakura."

Sakura turned at the sound of Yue's voice.

"I think I'll leave now," he said to her ignoring the bothersome giggling from her friends. It amazed him how people could automatically jump to conclusions like that.

"Oh you don't have to. We'll leave," Naoko said.

"It's okay," Sakura said a little relieved. It would be much easier to talk to them if Yue wasn't in the next room. "I'll walk you out."

Sakura was relieved to have the excuse and she followed Yue to the door.

"You might want to just fly home to make sure they don't notice you change back into Yukito," she said. "And I'm so sorry about this."

"It's fine. They're your friends. What's to be sorry about?"

"Well they do think you're my boyfriend now," Sakura said sheepishly.

"You know the truth. That's what counts," Yue said and something flashed in Sakura's eyes. It looked like disappointment.

Before he could ask though, she said, "Come back tonight. You still haven't told me what's bothering you."

Yue nodded and started to say something else before stopping and eyeing the girls who were peeping around the corner. Annoyance flashed across his face as he crossed his arms.

"Don't let us interrupt," Tomoyo said smiling as she recorded them, Naoko, Chiharu, and the usually mature Rika behind her.

"I'll come back tonight," was all Yue said to Sakura as he left the house, closing the door behind him.

Sakura sighed as she got ready to face her friends. This was going to be a long day.

"We're sorry Sakura, but don't be so sad. He'll be back tonight," Tomoyo teased and the other girls giggled.

* * *

><p>Sakura was waiting on the roof for Yue late that evening. He had seemed so sad earlier and lonely. She hadn't seen Yue like that in while, since after the final judgment when he was still trying to accept that Clow was dead and never coming back (even if he were reincarnated) and trying to learn to accept her as his mistress.<p>

"What could it be now?" Sakura wondered aloud to herself as she looked at the stars. Why was Yue looking like that again?

Her thoughts strayed to earlier that day and a blush formed on her cheeks. She had a time convincing her friends that she wasn't in a relationship with Yue, not an official one anyway. Her friends were now convinced it was a matter of time with the way they had found her snuggled up to Yue earlier. Sakura sighed. She wished it were that simple. If it were any other person, she could just use her empathy, but she had to fall in love with the guy who could even guard his emotions from that…

She sensed Yue land behind her, and without announcing himself in any way, he came to sit by her. Sakura leaned against him. It was out of habit more than anything.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked after a while and then added, ""Yukito says you seem restless and moody lately."

"Just tired," Yue said wearily.

"Tired? Of what?"

Yue sighed and looked to his side, trying to avoid her curious and concerned gaze.

"What?"

"This half life I guess," Yue admitted. "And I guess I've been taking my frustration out on my false form. Apologize to him for me later."

"Half life?" Sakura said sitting up. "You mean you're tired of sharing your body with Yukito."

Yue only nodded and Sakura looked at him in something of confusion and curiosity.

"Since when? You never seemed to mind before."

Yue snorted.

"Before it was only a minor annoyance. Now it's becoming frustrating and I can tell it's frustrating Yukito now too. This arrangement isn't working anymore."

Sakura opened and closed her mouth not quite knowing what to say. This was so sudden. There was a time Yue was content to never have control unless Sakura herself was in danger and Sakura had to almost force him into appearing. But now that she thought about it. That was years ago, before he started to open up to her and enjoy her company. Years, years that didn't seem so long ago anymore, where her relationship with Yue was much simpler than it was now. Sometimes, she wished she could go back to those times, but only sometimes. She sighed. Now wasn't a good time for her to get into deep thought about those things.

"Well," she finally said, "surely you had to have taken this into account before now. Surely Clow did!"

Yue rolled his eyes, a gesture Sakura had never seen him do when Clow was mentioned up to then. "Clow did take it into account. But it didn't quite go like he planned. Yukito wasn't supposed to develop so much of a personality. And I thought he would be expendable. He was just a disguise. I could get rid of it and to be quite honest, I wasn't expecting to take another master anyway. But as it turns out, you did defeat me and Yukito… I didn't expect so many people to care about him. I suppose I so distanced myself from the personality it was bound to happen, that we would end up two people in one body although technically, I have the right to get rid of him forever."

Sakura tensed. Yue wasn't really thinking…

"But although I may be mean and cold like Cerberus reminds me every day, I'm not heartless."

Sakura was silent, not quite sure how to respond to the admission. Yue didn't press her for an opinion as usual, but it was a rare thing for him to open up to her about his own issues. He wouldn't ask directly, but he wanted her advice.

"What brought this on all of a sudden? Why now?"

"It wasn't all of a sudden," Yue replied curtly and Sakura got the point. He wasn't telling her.

"Well," Sakura said in contemplation. "Clow did create you and by proxy Yukito, so isn't it possible we could give Yukito his own body."

"There's one problem with that," Yue said. "Toya's power keeps us alive."

"Then let Yukito keep Toya's power and you could do what you're supposed to do, live from my magic," Sakura suggested and sensing her moon guardian's protest continued, "I've gotten much stronger since I was eleven. I could do it now. It might take some getting used to and everything but-."

"You're talking as though you're actually going to consider doing this."

Sakura stopped her rambling noting the serious expression on Yue's face. He naturally didn't like getting his hopes up and so looked neutral as always, but there was something coming from him. She looked at him in determination and reached up to turn his face to look at her.

"I have considered it, and I've decided I'm going to."

"Is there anything I can say to try and talk you out of this?" he asked raising an eyebrow, already knowing the answer.

"Nope. I'll call Eriol about it tomorrow," Sakura determined.

Yue looked at her for a long time and she at him. Yue broke their gaze first, looking to the side as he stood up, his wings appearing on his back.

"I think I'll leave," he whispered.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked hopefully.

Yue paused trying to carefully answer her without saying no but where she wouldn't get her hopes too high.

"Perhaps. But I've already been taking a lot of time from Yukito lately…"

Sakura smiled. "I get it. Good night Yue."

"Good night Sakura," Yue said planting a kiss on her forehead. He started to fly away until Sakura called him back.

"Yue," she said. "You said that things with you and Yukito didn't go like Clow planned. What do you mean?"

Yue's eyes darted away from her and back, the only indication of his hesitation. Then he said, "Yukito didn't fall in love with you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Again, this isn't the last chapter. The title is just called conclusions. Anyway, I was thinking that CCS just leaves itself open for fanfiction with all the ambiguity and open ends (Not counting the Tsubasa Chronicles. I haven't read it and don't plan to). This story is just one of the many possibilities in my head. There are many other stories I considered, but I went with this one. I mean that plan of Clow's for Yukito and Sakura leave a lot for the fanfic writer to deal with and a bunch of other scenes in the manga and anime. I might do more fics later and who knows, I may even dip into S/S fic because well, it's an okay pairing and it is canon (I think fanfiction turned me off from it. There are really some horribly GAF of it not an insult to those who write the pairing well).

So, the scene that wasn't supposed to be in here was the scene with her friends, but it just wrote itself right there. And you really didn't think that last chapter was the end, that the two would finally end up together. Tsh… My Star Wars readers know that I've never been a straightforward romance person, which is why I like the pairings like this. They prove to be more of a challenge to me and in the end more fun for me to write. So, tell what you thought. The next chapter-. Well, I'll surprise you.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	11. Confessions

**AN: **This was one of the chapters that just frustrated me to no end. All of this stuff was supposed to happen at the end of the story. But my muses had another idea and this is what ended up being written and before I planned to write it. Ugh… But it came out wonderful once I stopped trying to force it to write the way I wanted it to. So heads up, we're looking at a few months later and Sakura's back in school. So this is somewhere in late December or early January.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eleven<br>Confessions  
><strong>

_Yukito didn't fall in love with you…_

He didn't fall in love with me, Sakura thought to herself. Even months after Yue had told her that, Sakura felt she was missing something, something that should have been obvious.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

Sakura blinked out of her stupor at the sound of Syaoran's voice. Despite the initial tension between them after she broke up with him, they had patched things up and he still remained one of her closest friends.

"Yeah," Sakura said. "I'm fine."

Syaoran frowned. "Somehow, I don't buy it."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Because class is over and you're still sitting here," he pointed out.

Sakura blinked and looked around. Indeed, the school day was over and all her classmates had left. She blushed.

"I just have a lot on my mind," she whispered.

"No kidding," Syaoran said seriously as he looked at her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah fine. Just tired," Sakura admitted and it was partly true.

"Does that have anything to do with staying up studying magic?" Syaoran asked knowingly.

"Who told you that?"

"Doesn't take a genius," Syaoran muttered and Sakura looked at him expectantly. He sighed. "Kero told me you're looking for a way to separate Yukito and Yue. Don't ask why I was talking to Kero."

Syaoran then snatched the book from under her elbows and raised his eyebrows.

"Exorcisms?"

Sakura blushed, taking the book back while saying, "Well I figured it could be something like that, except I don't want to hurt Yukito or Yue."

Syaoran glared even harder at her.

"You're piecing together magic?" he asked.

"No," Sakura said. "It's the concept that counts."

"That's dangerous Sakura," Syaoran said to her.

"Eriol's helping me."

"And although I'm sure they'd both appreciate your effort, I'm sure neither of them want you to kill yourself, especially Yue," Syaoran said bluntly.

Sakura winced at his tone, but he was right. She wished it had been the beginning of the summer when Yue confided in her, but as it was, before she could even begin to really delve into trying to look for a way to give Yue and Yukito separate lives, school came back around and Sakura was busier than ever with homework and extracurricular activities. She could hardly find the time to do all that, let alone time to mess around with and study magic. So anytime she had free time, she was burying her head in a book trying to learn as much as she could about the creation of magical beings and personalities and souls. When she finally went about performing the spell, she couldn't afford to mess it up less she accidently change or harm Yue and Yukito in some way she didn't want to. To say the least, she wasn't getting much sleep at night.

"I'm fine," Sakura replied and as though to contradict her, she yawned.

Syaoran looked at her pointedly.

"I'm fine," she insisted again as she began to walk backwards. "I have to go now."

Syaoran watched her run off. Sakura wasn't going to listen to anyone. For all her pure heartedness and caring towards everyone, she could be extremely hardheaded, especially when it came to her own self preservation.

"Baka," Syaoran muttered. He couldn't let Sakura do this to herself and if she wasn't going to listen to him, there was one person that could at least get her to see _some_ reason.

* * *

><p>Sakura sighed in frustration as she the passage again, not quite understanding what it meant. She ran a hand through her hair and glanced at the clock. 1 o'clock… It was probably better that she went to bed and started fresh the next day, Sunday. She hadn't made any plans and she didn't plan to so she could get started bright an early… Maybe she could make another thirty minutes though, she thought to herself before continuing to read.<p>

She had only made it to the next sentence before she felt a chill go down her spine and she turned around from the living room coffee table to look behind her, book in hand. There stood Yue, his arms crossed, eyes closed, and a look of what could only be disapproval and exasperation on his face. It took her all of two seconds to notice this and then…

"HOOEEE!"

She tossed the book in the air in her surprise and Yue reached his hands out to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Well it's certainly been a while since I got a reaction like that out of you," he said.

Sakura immediately noticed he hadn't spoken in the amused tones he usually used and so she stood up to be level with him (as level as she could being that she was shorter than him, at least by two heads or so).

"What?"

"Li told me what you've been doing," Yue said coldly. "I would have thought you learned after what happened last time you did magic while you were tired."

Sakura mentally cursed Syaoran before saying, "I was only reading, not actually practicing."

"You're exhausted."

"I'm fine."

"Don't lie."

Sakura sighed as she sat on the couch. There was never any fooling Yue and because of her insistence on them being on equal footing as friends, Yue wasn't as submissive to her as he had been when she was younger, but only when it came to her wellbeing. He still couldn't say no to her when it came to anything else.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to bed soon."

Yue closed the book. "You're going to bed now."

Sakura rolled her eyes and reached up to take the book back, but Yue held it out her reach, just so happening to get a glimpse of the title on the front. He then lowered it back in his hands and stared at it for a long time. Sakura sensed something in his mood shift, and something like fear began to mix in with his concern for her. She blinked in confusion. What had just happened?

"Yue?"

"Mistress," he said. "No."

To say that Sakura was bewildered would have been an understatement.

"What?"

"No. Not again," Yue said coolly obviously trying not to betray whatever emotion her was feeling. "I won't let you hurt yourself on my behalf again. That's my duty, to protect and aid you not-."

"Yue," Sakura said taking the book from him and setting it on the table. Then she embraced him and slowly, Yue returned the gestured leaning his chin on her head.

Yue didn't understand why. The thought that she might overdue it, put herself in danger for him was… well it bothered him to say the least. He wouldn't let anyone else know that. As far as anyone else knew, he was still the same stoic guardian as ever. But that face was hard to maintain around his mistress because he knew she wouldn't take advantage it up for her own gains, her own needs.

"_I don't need you to protect me."_

"_I know, but I want to."_

He still didn't understand it. Why was she so willing to put her own life on the line for him? Sure he had done it countless times for her, ever since she had become his mistress and he always knew that when she cared for someone, she cared fully and wholeheartedly. But this was beyond that type of caring. It only served to confuse him more than he already was about his own caring for her.

He opened his mouth to say it to her, but couldn't get it in words. The only thing he managed was a quiet, "Why?"

Though she was trying to remain calm, Yue could feel her heart pounding, racing, against him and with her next words, he figured out why.

"_Aishiteru_," she whispered.

Yue lifted his head to look down at her in obvious shock. She only kept her head down, a blush on her cheeks as she leaned her forehead into his chest.

"What?" he said because it was the only thing he could remember how to say.

Sakura didn't answer as she looked at him, her amusement overcoming her shyness as she suddenly smiled. If Yue had been shocked before, it was especially so when she leaned up and pressed her lips against his and to his surprise, he liked the feeling it invoked in him as he kissed her back. He had thought by now that he was above many human needs, especially after Clow died. Feeling, desires, emotions… those were things he was above. Yet his mistress would come along and without even trying show him that whatever he thought he was, he was still like her human and as much as he liked to deny it, he could feel human wants, human desires… It was hard to reflect when kissing someone was Yue's last coherent thought as he focused on the event at hand.

She finally pulled back, a silly smile on her face as she said again, "I love you," and kissed him again. Again, his body reacted before his head could comprehend it, that what they were doing was wrong in a way. He wasn't supposed to… It couldn't happen again. He had vowed never to let it happen again. Clow had said the same thing, knowing he hadn't meant it the same way Yue did.

He pulled away and sighed avoiding her eyes as he let her go and sensing his doubt Sakura jumped back, apparently realizing what she had just done

"I… Yue I'm sorry! I shouldn't have," Sakura stared at him tentatively at him, waiting for him to do something.

"I think maybe it would be best if I…" he trailed off as tears sprang to her eyes. Damn it, he thought.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I just wanted you to know why-why-." The tears fell and a sob escaped her. "You don't have to say anything. I don't want you to feel forced to say anything. Just… Please don't run away from me. Please don't hide."

She sank onto the couch and turned her face to the side, covering it with a fist to hide her tears. How could she have done something so stupid?

As uncomfortable as the situation was for Yue though, he still couldn't say no to her and so he sat next to her and pulled her into his arms to comfort her.

"Don't cry Sakura," he said and she buried her face in his chest.

"Don't leave me. I don't want anything to change between us," she whispered.

"It's okay. I'm not leaving," Yue replied back and though that was true, he couldn't promise her second request, because things had already changed and he didn't know whether they could stop it.

* * *

><p>He felt blind. How could he not have noticed it before? Now the things she did make sense, why she worked so hard to please him, why she liked when he was around even when he was being aloof and distant, why she was now working so hard to do something he hadn't really requested of her, but she knew he desired and knew was in her power to fulfill. As he thought about it, he wondered how he missed it. Probably because he hadn't wanted to see it…<p>

Yue sighed to himself. This was why he didn't like dealing with emotions. They were fickle, too complex, and worked their way into hearts whether the person wanted them to or not. He would have been better off if Clow hadn't created him with that capacity. Then again, if he hadn't, how would he find it in him to want to protect her? He hoped she didn't notice the glances he kept stealing at her as she spoke to Eriol who had arrived earlier as they discussed the ramifications of what might happen and could happen if she were to go through with this. Then again, she couldn't quite meet his eyes like she used to. Despite her desire that things didn't change between them, he knew she saw that it had.

"Yue, you better listen to this too," Eriol said snapping him out his thoughts.

Yue slowly turned his gaze on the boy who was looking at both he and Sakura with a penetrating stare.

"You both need to know that if she does this, Yue, your fate is now directly tied to hers. Now she may be more powerful than Clow was at this age but the fact of the matter is, Clow was centuries older when he created Yue. You have to be sure you can do this Sakura," Eriol warned.

"I am," Sakura said without pause.

"And Yue, you have to trust that she'll be able to."

Yue didn't answer. Certainly that was a given if he was willing to risk it in the first place. He looked up when felt a pair of hands clasp one of his in them.

"You know I won't let anything happen to you, right?" Sakura asked him, looking him in the eye for the first time in a week or two, since the night she admitted she loved him. He could see it on her eyes now. She wasn't trying to hide it from him anymore, nor was she trying to hide the sadness in her green eyes.

Yue smiled a little and nodded. That seemed to satisfy Sakura as she quickly unclasped his hands and turned back to Eriol a small blush gracing her features. He ignored the look both Eriol and Toya were giving him and the snickers coming from Nakuru, Spinel, and Cerberus.

"What about Yuki?" Toya asked.

"He'll keep the magic you gave up Toya," Eriol explained. "Yukito will be fine. It's only Yue who has need to be concerned."

"No he doesn't," Sakura corrected. "So when can we do it?"

"I'm thinking it will be best to be done on the full moon," Eriol said. "That works for both of you actually, on a starry night of the full moon."

"That's in a week and a half," Spinel pointed out. "Are you sure she'll be ready?"

"I going to be helping her," said Eriol. "But I do advise you use no magic until then. You'll need to be at full strength."

"That means you'll need to get up on time so you won't use DASH to make it to school monster," Toya said putting his finger on her forehead. "And no late night flights with Yue."

Both Yue and Sakura looked at each other and then averted their gazes, not unnoticed by Toya.

"Shut up," Sakura muttered knocking his hand away as she started up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Toya asked.

"To call Tomoyo. She insists on making an outfit and wants an accurate date," Sakura explained.

Eriol, Spinnel and Nakuru left next, leaving Yue, Toya, and Cerberus. Cerberus looked around to see if everything before the sly grin that had been on his face disappeared.

"Yue," he said.

"What?" Yue asked.

"You've got to be the biggest idiot there is on the planet," Cerberus shot and Yue glared at them.

"If you're going to call me an idiot, I'd like to know what I've done," he pointed out.

"When are you going to put both you and her out of your misery and tell her you return her feelings?" Cerberus asked.

Toya regarded Cerberus with a sharp stare. "What?"

"Sakura didn't tell you," Cerberus said and then shrugged. "I guess she wouldn't. The only reason she probably told me is because it's hard to hide something from someone who stays in the same room when she cries herself to sleep over it at night."

"Would you tell me what you're talking about?" Toya asked missing the way Yue looked in the direction Sakura had gone.

"She told Yue," Cerberus said simply and then looked at Yue annoyed. "And this guy doesn't know how much effect his silence can have on her. Silence is never a safe answer for Sakura."

Toya looked confused before it dawned on him and he set his face into a tight scowl. That explained a lot. For the last couple of days, he had detected the tension in a room raise dramatically when his sister and her moon guardian were in the same room together. Even when he wasn't in the room and Yukito was present, his sister seemed to shy away from Yukito and Toya had wondered why. Now he knew that even when Yukito was present, Sakura was seeing through him to Yue who was no doubt probably observing her all this time.

"So?" he asked Yue finally.

Yue raised his eyebrow and Toya groaned.

"What are you going to do to fix it?"

Yue was silent and so Cerberus said, "Well let's start with this. Do you love her?"

Yue looked at his brother trying to figure out how to answer him. Did he? He wasn't sure because to be quite honest, Yue wasn't sure what love was. The last time he thought he was in love, he had his heart broken in the end.

"I…" Yue was going to say he didn't know but then he found another answer tumbling out his mouth before he could stop it. "I do."

Cerberus and Toya looked shocked he had admitted it. Yue himself was shocked at how easily the words had slipped off his tongue. He wasn't even sure himself, yet it came out like he had known all along, he had said it without thinking. Without thinking, he thought as he finally just reflected on it, without letting his own doubts and past experiences confuse him. There usually was no thinking when he was around her. It was just him and her doing what they wanted on a whim. He always trusted that she knew what she was doing (or at least that it would work out because most of the time she had no idea what she was getting into) when he followed her on one her crazy ideas of adventure and fun, from using the illusion card to drag him into town or sitting around the house while she drew a picture of him (one of her favorite pastimes since the first time she had done it). Trust… He trusted her in everything else and for him to admit he loved her so easily when he had wanted to deny it said something. But he couldn't ignore the whisper in the back of his head that told him it would end the same way, that he would end up hurt again.

"Then why…?" Toya started.

"This is about Clow, isn't it?" Cerberus asked knowingly.

Yue didn't betray any particular emotion, but Cerberus already knew.

"I take it they had a relationship that didn't end well," Toya stated more so than asked because he knew he wouldn't get a confirmation from either guardian.

"I'm sure she'd understand if you told her."

"She already knows," Yue replied before Cerberus started to list the reasons why he should tell her.

It dawned on Toya before Cerberus could comprehend it.

"You're scared, aren't you?" he asked.

Yue was quickly becoming uncomfortable by how vulnerable he felt as between Toya and Cerberus the two began to remove the layers of excuses until they got to the core of the problem.

"Yue, you've fallen out the sky before right?"

Yue looked at Cerberus in what could only be carefully concealed bemusement at the sudden changed in topic.

"Well?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Have you ever fallen out the sky before when you were flying or not?"

"You know the answer to that," Yue replied annoyed.

"And did it stop you from getting back in the air because you might fall again?"

"That's hardly the same," Yue said finally catching Cerberus' meaning. "This is different."

"Is it?" Toya asked with a penetrating stare. "I don't know what happened between you and Clow, but we all know that Sakura wouldn't hurt you. But it appears in your effort not to be hurt, you are hurting her because I think she knows that you may feel the same way. She's empathetic, remember?"

Yue knew that, but generally it took Sakura a lot of effort to read his emotions as he carefully guarded them from others, even her. She just didn't have the patience to try harder to decipher his emotions. And even if she did, he knew she didn't want to invade his privacy. Then again he hadn't been careful that night he came to make her rest. He knew he hadn't been, if not before her confession, certainly not after. Was it possible he had unknowingly slipped something through the careful mental and emotional guards that he was conscious of even when around her? That he had given her some kind of false hope or signal?

"I…"

"I don't want to know," Toya said looking sternly at Yue. "I'm just warning you to fix this. Guardian or not, if you hurt her, no amount of magic will stop me from killing you after she separates you from Yuki."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Toya and Yue weren't supposed to talk in this chapter, but somehow, the story flowed better when I dealt with Yue and Sakura's romance first. So I said, what the heck? If this is how the story wants to go, who am I to stop it? (Muse: Uh… The writer…?).

Also, Japanese is an ambiguous language, and they believe, love should be shown through action and not words. So technically they wouldn't throw around _aishiteru_ (I love you) like that. They'd say something like _dai-suki _(I like you). But many of the younger generation do use it (aishiteru) today. However, you won't see it thrown around in this story like it would be in a western culture because even then in the youth it's not that often. Japanese married couples actually usually don't say it at all according to my research.

So tell me what you think. I was pleased with it. It was so hard to keep Yue in character though. He's a very emotionally guarded character because he's emotionally vulnerable. His character reminds me of me. I'm emotionally guarded because I feel vulnerable when I show my emotions and I understand that people like that try to fool themselves that nothing bothers them when they know it does which is what causes confusion in a person like that. Anyway, two more chapter after this. Again, I may like it, but you're the judge.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	12. Trust

**AN: **This was fun to write for two reasons. On is the first part and the second reason is for the second part which gave me a good laugh. Anyway, I can't say anything about this without telling you what's about to happen so just read it.

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twelve<br>Trust  
><strong>

"Let's go flying."

Sakura stared at the moon guardian for a long time. It was one thing to wake up and find him standing over her bed (it took all her might not to yell, "HOE," and wake up the house), but this was out of character for him, even around her. Yue wasn't the sporadic type. She tried in vain to read him, despite having learned to do so over the last four or five years. He was being careful not to give anything away and her heart skipped a beat (or two) as she wondered what this was about. Who was she kidding? She knew exactly what it was about and it terrified her what he would finally say about it after two weeks.

"I'm not supposed to use any magic," she pointed out finally, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.

Yue seemed to briefly consider this before he said, "I suppose I'll have to carry you then."

Sakura squeaked as Yue lifted her up in his arms before she could agree or object and then soared out the window. She always felt safest when he carried her when he flew, even though her entire fate depended on him holding her. She knew he wouldn't let her fall. She leaned her head on his chest as she closed her eyes, trusting him to take her wherever they were going.

Yue looked down at her when he felt her relax in his arms. She was completely unafraid, completely trusting of him even though she had no clue where she was going, had no wings of her own right then. He knew then what he had to say to her, what he had do, as he remembered what she told him that day when he found out she had broken up with Syaoran.

"_You know I'd never do that to you right?"_

She had been trying to tell him in a roundabout way then that she felt something for him. She had been trying to gauge his reaction to it for when she finally decided to be completely honest with him. What else had Yue missed? He wasn't sure. Their relationship was innocent enough when it began, so how could he have known what it was the older she grew, that what really had started off as an innocent friendship had developed into something more without either party trying.

He landed and placed Sakura down on her feet. She grasped his arms to steady herself and then looked up at him, meeting his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I-." Yue paused and Sakura noted with a mixture of humor and concern that he he appeared uncomfortable about something, especially by the tension she felt in his arms. She rubbed her hand up and down on them, aware that it wasn't _exactly _an innocent gesture, but it had the effect she wanted. He relaxed.

"I wanted to apologize," he finally continued.

Sakura looked at him baffled stopping the motion of her hands. "For what? You haven't done anything."

"That night," Yue continued. "When you told me-."

He didn't need to finish, Sakura caught on and cut him off.

"It's okay. It-It was my fault. I shouldn't have-." She abruptly cut herself off as she looked down to the side to hide her tears. "Let's just forget about it. I don't want to lose your friendship because of me being stupid…"

"Mistress."

"And I knew I was stepping into your personal space and I should have left it at telling you…"

"Sakura."

Not even the sound of him saying her name got her to stop talking and so finally Yue put a finger to her mouth.

"You ramble when you're nervous," he teased, remembering when he told her the same thing on her thirteenth birthday nearly three years ago when all she wanted was a late night flight and to give him a picture she drew of him.

Sakura blushed and used her hands to cover her face like she always did when she was embarrassed in front of him. He became serious again as he gently pulled her hands from her face and clasped them in his own.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you," he finally said. "I was just afraid."

"Afraid. Of what?"

"That you'd hurt me like he did, but I think I managed to hurt you trying not to get hurt," Yue muttered.

"I knew," Sakura admitted. "I knew you were afraid and I knew why. I knew you might reject me because of it."

Yue wasn't shocked. Sakura almost always knew more than she let people believe nowadays (though she could still be oblivious to some things) and he briefly wondered if it was a trait she picked up from being around him so much.

"I should have known. But if you knew that, then why did you risk it?"

"I don't want you to be afraid of me. You don't have to be. The last thing I want is to hurt you," Sakura said resting a hand on his face.

"I know that. Just, forgive me. It's hard to forget, to move on," Yue admitted.

Sakura stepped closer to him.

"Will you let me help you move on?" she asked looking up at him.

Yue looked at her, remembering how she had put her full-hearted trust in him earlier and many times before. So he came to the conclusion that anyone who was willing to make themselves so vulnerable to a person couldn't be untrustworthy, wouldn't take advantage of the fact that she knew his vulnerabilities. She had proved that when she refused to fight him when they first met, here at the tower they stood on.

"I trust you," he whispered in her ear and then said, "_Aishiteru_."

Sakura blinked a few time as if not trusting her ears to be correct before she broke out into a wide grin and closed the distance between them as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, burying her face in his neck. He felt her tears fall on his skin as she whispered, "You won't leave me?"

"How can I? I have a duty to protect you regardless as a guardian," he pointed out.

"You're doing your duty just fine by being there," Sakura whispered closing her eyes. "I don't want you to think you have to protect me."

"I know," Yue responded. "But I want to."

* * *

><p>"Is it just me or is Sakura acting a little… well I won't say strange," Syaoran said to Tomoyo who he had gotten hold of during their lunch hour. "This was how she acted months ago."<p>

Tomoyo nodded. "Yeah. It looks like she's back to her old self."

"Not that that's not a good thing, but why?"

They had reason to wonder. Sakura had been very solemn the last few months and while some would say she was finally growing out of her childish antics, people who knew her knew that that wasn't all the reason, could see the touch of sadness. But when she came skipping into class (early for one) looking like she could outshine the sun, humming happily, and in her dreamy happy state, all her friends knew something was up, especially those closest to her; namely Tomoyo and Syaoran.

"Hm… I wonder," Tomoyo said as she watched Sakura from the distance.

"Wonder what?"

"Hey, where's she going?" Tomoyo asked as Sakura took her lunch and walked around to the side of the school. "Come on. We have to follow her."

"Tomoyo. Don't you believe in giving people their privacy?" Syaoran asked as she practically dragged him along to follow.

"Something's up and I want to know what," Tomoyo replied. "And she's been too day dreamy for me to ask her. Besides, she won't mind. She's practically used to it by now."

Syaoran sighed as he watched Tomoyo peek around the corner and then he did the same since he was curious anyway. He could always blame it on her if they got caught.

"What's she doing?" he asked.

"Having lunch, but why by herself?"

"Maybe she just wanted peace and quiet from people like you nagging her about why she's in such a good mood," Syaoran pointed out. He knew he would certainly do the same.

"But Sakura's a social being. She's not like you or Yue for that matter," Tomoyo added.

"And speak of the devil…" Syaoran said.

"What?" Tomoyo asked as she turned her attention to where Syaoran was looking in the sky. "Yue?"

"Be quiet. Sakura might not notice us, but he will," he said pulled Tomoyo back some.

"I thought you were all about privacy and space," Tomoyo said dryly.

Syaoran blushed a little and stuttered while Tomoyo simply rolled her eyes and gestured for the two of them to look back to where Sakura was and where Yue had landed next to her. Sakura jumped to her feet to hug him and then said something to him that the two eavesdroppers couldn't hear.

"What are they saying?" Tomoyo asked recording the occasion with her camera.

"I don't know. I can't hear."

"Something about how Yukito's not going to like that he missed lunch."

Tomoyo and Syaoran jumped back and turned around.

"Eriol?" both said.

"What are you doing here?" Syaoran asked with a scowl trying to dignify himself as best her could.

"Looking for Sakura and then I found you two. I need to ask her about something concerning next week," Eriol replied.

"What's happening next week?" Syaoran asked.

"They set a date to try separating Yue and Yukito," Tomoyo rushed out. "I'll fill you in later. Now hush and pay attention."

The two peaked back around the corner and Eriol raised his eyebrow before decided to see what they were looking at.

"So why are we spying on Sakura?" he asked.

"Where'd Yue go?" Tomoyo wondered aloud.

"Yue was here?" Eriol asked. "I thought I sensed him around."

"He was just with Sakura," said Syaoran. "I guess he left."

"No, he's here still," Eriol replied.

"Is there a problem with that?" the said moon guardian asked from behind them.

Tomoyo and Syaoran jumped from around the corner as they turned to face him, succeeding in knocking Eriol over in the process.

"Yue!" they both said in surprise.

"What are you three doing?" Sakura asked looking at them blankly apparently not having noticed their presence until then.

"The same reason I'm here, I'm guessing," said an additional voice.

Sakura turned to where her backpack was sitting to see Kero pop his head out.

"Kero!" she exclaimed. "Wh-What?"

"So you noticed it too?" Syaoran asked after he brushed the dirt off him.

"Noticed what?" Sakura asked still confused.

"You've been glowing all day," Tomoyo finally said. "And since you won't say anything, we were curious."

Sakura started to blush. "Really? I didn't notice it…"

"Yeah. You've been humming and singing all morning. You were even up early, cooked a big breakfast for everyone, and didn't go off when Toya and Yukito came by for breakfast and he called you a monster," Kero pointed out.

"Oh," Sakura said blushing brighter.

"Really?" Tomoyo said kneeling next to the book bag to talk to Kero. "She's been bubbly and day dreamy all day and she can't stop smiling like she was before-."

"What?" everyone asked except for Yue.

Tomoyo blinked and then grinned as she jumped up and clasped Sakura's hands while looking her directly in the face.

"Is it true?" she asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity, hope, and mischief.

Sakura gave a sheepish grin as she looked past Tomoyo to where Yue was who had become his aloof self as always, the reaction he always had when he didn't want to be a part of something. Sakura sighed. It was no use hiding it.

"Yes," she relented and Tomoyo squealed in delight.

"Wait a minute," Kero and Syaoran said together briefly glancing at each other in acknowledgement as they did so. "What happened?"

Tomoyo was ignoring them though as she hugged Sakura and said, "I'm so happy for you two. It's about time."

"You two?" Kero said and then it dawned on him as he rushed up to his brother. "Well it's about time! I swear, the two of you, really-."

Yue opened his eyes to glare at Kero, daring him to continue.

"Oh be happy for once in your life," Kero grumbled. "It's a wonder Sakura can even put up with you."

"Will someone fill me in?" Syaoran asked just confused as he stood next to Eriol.

"I think," Eriol began slowly, "that Sakura and Yue are now a couple, at least officially anyway."

Syaoran blinked and turned to look at Yue who hadn't left, but didn't look too thrilled either.

"That explains a lot."

"So tell me all about it, from the beginning," Tomoyo demanded as she settled on the ground and patted the spot next to her for Sakura to join.

"Tomoyo," Sakura said glancing at Yue.

"I'll see you later," was all he said trying and failing to stop the smile that tugged at his lips before he flew away.

"_Kawaii_!" Tomoyo exclaimed and Sakura sweat dropped. Could her friend get any more excited?

"Oh no," Syaoran grumbled. "Girl talk… I'll see you two later."

"I can't wait to get some footage of you two together. I'll call it _The Romance of Cardcaptor Sakura_!"

* * *

><p>"Don't even think about it."<p>

"Please!"

"It's a lost cause Tomoyo," Cerberus said a week and a half later as they stood in Eriol's yard under the light of a full moon and clear starry night. "Yue's never going to let you play dress up with him."

"But he has to!" Tomoyo whined. "They need matching costumes. Sakura tell him."

Sakura looked between Yue and Tomoyo, twiddling her fingers together as Tomoyo glared at an apparently agitated Yue. Tomoyo was one of those people Yue preferred not to be around sometimes, and it wasn't that he didn't like her. It was just that she could sometimes get a little eccentric, and it was especially so in the last week and a half as Tomoyo was determined to get footage for what she was calling _The Romance of Cardcaptor Sakura_. For Sakura's sake more than Tomoyo's, Yue was trying not to be mean. But even Sakura had to admit, Tomoyo might have been pushing it.

"Why don't you just ask again later?" Sakura said to Tomoyo.

"How about never?" Yue suggested still eyeing Tomoyo warily.

"I think we need to get started," Eriol began saving Sakura from having to deal with the situation.

"Are you sure this is going to work," Toya asked concerned.

"You have nothing to worry about when it comes to Yukito," Rubi Moon pointed out. "It's Yue that should be concerned. It's all up to whether Sakura's strong enough to keep him alive."

No one else said anything, but the air became heavy and all thoughts were on Sakura and Yue.

Sakura gripped her staff confidently as she nodded her head. "I won't let him die."

"I hope not," Toya muttered unable to think about how heartbroken his sister would be if something happened to Yue, at her hands no less.

"You can do it Sakura," Tomoyo said. "We'll be up on the balcony."

Sakura nodded as Tomoyo, Toya, and Syaoran left to stand on the balcony just in case something didn't go as planned. They hoped nothing would go wrong, but in case it did, it was for the best that anyone not involved kept their distance.

"You remember what you have to do?" Eriol asked her and Sakura nodded albeit nervously. "You're ready?"

Sakura bit her lip looking at the ground as if contemplating something before shaking her head and going over to Yue, grabbing his hand and then leaning up to peck him on the lips.

Tomoyo's squeal over catching it on video sounded from the balcony as Sakura nodded looking down to try to hide her blush. Yue too couldn't prevent the blush that graced his features.

"Now I'm ready," she whispered twirling her staff.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>One of the most difficult things about this story is the fact that it's a rated K story. Why was that difficult? Well, one thing was that this is the first time I've ever done a romance that featured a teenager and I really did feel odd about it. With all my others, I was dealing with adults and they did adult things (It was T rated and implied a lot), but in striving to mimic the tone of the CCS manga and the anime, I really had to tone it down, which is one of the main reason this story started off when Sakura was twelve and not skipping all the way to when she's a teenager. I kept telling my sister I felt weird writing it though, because I've never done romance with a character like Sakura.

Anyway, as you can see, I love little scenes like the second part. It brings humor and lightheartedness to the story. And I thought it would be funny for Tomoyo and Syaoran to suspect something about Sakura which is why that scene came about.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	13. Duty of a Guardian

**AN: **Last chapter guys. It's so sad, isn't it? But don't worry. I'm writing a sequel. Yay! But, you have to R&R this chapter first. I'll elaborate afterwards. In the mean time,

Read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Thirteen<br>Duty of a Guardian  
><strong>

Sakura's headache felt like someone was playing the drums right next to her ears. She moaned as she struggled to move but found she couldn't and so struggled to remember what she had been doing. She hadn't felt like this since she first started transforming the cards. But as much as she wanted to go back to sleep, she couldn't. Something had happened, something important.

"Sakura."

"Too loud," Sakura moaned as someone helped to prop her up.

"Sorry," Cerberus whispered.

"Kero, what happened?"

"Give it a minute," he said.

Sakura paused and then it all came back to her, the spell, Yukito and Yue… Yukito and Yue! She jumped to her feet and then winced, the pounding in her head increasing at the sudden movement. She fell to her knees.

"Ow," she said to herself as she looked around. There was Yukito, looking no worse for wear, a little confused maybe, but certainly unharmed.

Sakura looked around. If the spell had worked, then Yue… She followed to where Yukito's confused gaze was directed…

"Yue!" she said trying and failing again to get to her feet before forgetting it and crawling over to where the moon guardian was lying on the ground. She grabbed onto him, pulling him into her lap before looking around for Eriol who was being helped by Rubi Moon and Spinnel Sun.

"Is he okay?" Sakura asked.

Eriol looked at her without any particular feeling on his face as he said, "That's up to you Sakura."

Sakura was starting to see why Yue was easily annoyed by Eriol. Him and his cryptic answers… But she had no time to dwell on that as she turned back to Yue and shook him.

"Yue!" she said.

"Don't panic Sakura," Cerberus said. "Calm down and focus."

Sakura nodded and concentrated on her magic. Please, she thought, not really knowing what she was doing but trusting her instincts to guide her. She felt her magic course through her and focused on Yue's presence, focused on keeping him with her. She opened her eyes when she felt him stir in her arms.

"Yue!" she exclaimed.

"Too loud," he muttered.

"Sorry," Sakura whispered, her own headache forgotten in her excitement. "Are you okay?"

"If feeling like I've been run over by a thousand Cerberuses is okay, I guess so," he muttered.

Sakura laughed and threw her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek. When she heard him hiss she let go, only for Cerberus to playfully pounce on him. Yue groaned in what might have been a mixture of pain and annoyance.

"Cerberus, get off," Yue said throwing the beast off of him and standing to his feet to retain what little dignity he had left but failed in even doing that as he started to stumble. Cerberus and Sakura immediately went to help him stay standing.

"Sakura you did it!" Tomoyo said loudly causing all parties involved to wince.

"So everything's okay?" Spinnel asked Eriol from where they were standing off to the side.

"We'll know in a few days," Eriol said. "But I don't think we'll have anything to worry about."

"Why not?" Rubi asked

"Because she loves him too much," Eriol replied with a small smile.

"Love or not, that doesn't say anything about whether she'll be able to keep him alive," Spinnel pointed out.

"Don't be so sure. Love is its own type of magic in a way, a magic that no matter how much we study we'll never be able to truly understand," Eriol said. "Now come on. Let's go join the celebrations."

"I'd prefer not to," Spinnel said.

"Such a spoil sport," Rubi said licking her tongue at him.

* * *

><p>"You sure you don't want to at least try the tea? It'll help," Sakura insisted to Yue again as she knelt into front of the table in the room, looking to where Yue was resting on the bed.<p>

He found it amusing how she had bustled desiring to cater to his every whine, want and personal need. Not that he had let her. Yue had in fact assured her that he was fine for the most part. But Sakura had insisted and so Yue indulged her. He didn't even remind her that he didn't eat or drink when she offered to make tea. It was just for today, he told himself, and tomorrow (or likely in a few hours) it would be the other way around again.

"I'll be fine," Yue said again. "You on the other hand will need at least a few days to recover."

"I'll have plenty of time to rest," Sakura said sipping on her tea. "This is helping and it will help you too."

Yue might have been annoyed by anyone else, but he could only smile at her insistence. Sakura had a stubborn streak when she wanted to and he imagined the more he argued with her, the more insistent she was going to get, something that would only tire her more. He sighed. He'd let her win today for her sake.

"If I taste it," he said going to kneel next to her, "Will you get some rest?"

"Deal!" Sakura said excitedly pouring another cup of tea before looking at it and deciding on only a little cream and sugar. Yue didn't seem like the type to have a sweet tooth.

He eyed it warily and Sakura laughed.

"Afraid of tea?" she teased.

Yue only smiled as he brought the tea to his lips and took a small sip. He didn't react, only stared at the liquid before taking one more.

"So?" Sakura asked.

"I suppose I could learn to like it," he said. "It… It didn't taste bad."

"Not that you have anything to compare it to," Sakura replied. "But I guess it's better than nothing. I'll have to try a different tea along with some kind of cake next time."

"Who says there will be a next time?" Yue asked raising an eyebrow.

Sakura wrapped her arms around him. "You know you can't say no to me, even if you tried."

Yue kissed her forehead and then Sakura looked up and kissed him on the lips, a blush coloring her cheeks when she pulled away and laid her head on Yue's chest. She didn't want to admit it, but Yue was right. She did need to rest and to be honest, she was ready to do so right there in Yue's arms for the night. It certainly sounded like a good idea.

"Now will you go rest?" Yue asked her.

"Yeah. Let me just go take this back," Sakura replied deciding Yue would still be there when she got back as she sat up and grabbed the tray. "I hope dad doesn't worry though, but I think Toya might have already told him I was staying at a friend's house. If not, I'll tell him tomorrow that I was doing something important and couldn't leave…"

Sakura trailed off, stopping halfway to the door, a peculiar expression on her face, as though she had just realized something.

"Uh-oh," she muttered.

Yue just gave her an expectant look and she continued, "My dad. I forgot about him."

"I don't understand," Yue said replied. "What about your dad?"

"Well, I assumed all along that you would stay at our house, but I forgot my dad doesn't know about any of this."

"It didn't occur to you before?"

Sakura blushed.

"I was so focused on making sure I knew what this spell was about that I forgot about him!" Sakura whined. "Aw man."

"Maybe it's about time. It's a wonder with Cerberus around you've been able to hide it thus far," Yue said and the added, "or I could just stay with your brother and Yukito."

"No. I don't want you to be a burden on them. I'll… I guess I'll explain to my dad tomorrow," Sakura said dreading the conversation that was to come, not because she thought her dad was going to overreact. But she didn't want to give him anything to worry about. After all, she had been using and dealing with magic for years. She then glanced at Yue as she started to out the door to take the tray. Who was she kidding? She just didn't know how she was going to explain to her dad the relationship she had with Yue and if that would affect whether he let her moon guardian stay with them.

* * *

><p>Kinomoto Fujitaka couldn't help but sigh. It had certainly been an interesting day to say the least, all because of his fifteen going on sixteen year old daughter. She came in to talk to him looking oddly nervous about something and so naturally he stopped everything he was doing to give her his complete and undivided attention. But she didn't quite know where to start it seemed, at least not until the plush toy he sometimes found lying around in the oddest places flew (actually flew) from behind her back and said hello. If that wasn't weird enough Sakura delved right into a story about a book of magic cards, capturing them after they were scattered, and being the new mistress of these cards left behind by a magician named Clow Reed.<p>

To be quite honest, it sounded like something right out of a magical girl manga and at first he found it hard to believe. However, Sakura wasn't one to play elaborate jokes like this and she looked every bit of serious. Then she summoned the staff and summoned one of these said cards (that certainly proved her story) before explaining the nature of the cards and mishaps they had caused when they were capturing them. As hard as it was to believe, her stories certainly explained the weird things that had been happening a few years ago around the time Sakura had been capturing said cards, though he had a feeling she was tailoring some of the explanation, especially when it came to this final judgment and the judge named Yue. She hadn't told him exactly how Yue had judged her, only that she passed.

"_You mentioned two guardians," he said when she gave him a moment. "Who's the other?"_

"_Oh. That's Yue."_

"_The judge?"_

That's when a man who could have only been described as an angel if he hadn't known any better walked in the room. He stood tall and imposing, his cat eyes taking in everything in the room before landing on Fujitaka. He said a polite hello after a moment with a nod of his head and though he didn't betray it outwardly, he seemed nervous about something.

Fujitaka smiled at him and returned the greeting and seeming satisfied with the exchange, Sakura continued up to the night before where his daughter and the reincarnation of Clow Reed helped her to give Yue and his disguised form or what used to be his disguised form (imagine his shock at finding out behind the bright and warm personality of Yukito was Sakura's, on first glance, cold moon guardian though Fujitaka had a feeling Yue was just as kind by the way Sakura brightened when she said his name) separate bodies.

"_So what's this all about Sakura?" Fujitaka asked her with a smile, already having an idea._

"_Can Yue stay with us?" she said pointing her fingers together. "He may look a little intimidating, but he's harmless. I promise."_

_Yue threw Sakura an insulted look that Sakura only laughed at._

"_Yeah," Kero said. "Despite his appearance, Yue's a mostly nice guy though he can be a little mean sometimes."_

How could Fujitaka have refused? The man was her daughter's guardian after all and despite his demeanor, he could tell Yue cared for his daughter very much, even more than they were trying to let on to Fujitaka. Sakura rushed forward to hug him and thank him before leading her two guardians out the room to Toya's old room, where Yue would stay.

That had been earlier that day and now it was late in the evening, nearing midnight and Fujitaka wanted to check on Sakura and her two guardians. He saw Kero already asleep in Sakura's room but Sakura wasn't there so he moved on to the next room where he heard a soft voice coming out of the cracked door.

"You have a new false form now. You should use it," Sakura suggested. She sounded exhausted.

"There's nothing to hide from right now. It seems like it would be a waste of energy."

"Yue," Sakura sang with laughter in her tone. There was a quick pause and then Yue picked back up.

"You didn't tell him," he said sounding curious.

"I was thinking I'd let him get adjusted to your presence first, then I'll tell him, if he doesn't figure it out first," Sakura replied. "I'm not sure how he'll take it."

"Your father seems like a reasonable man. I'm sure he'd understand, mistress."

"He'd understand if you really were Yukito's twenty-seven year old cousin from out of town. He was about that much older than my mother. But my centuries-old moon guardian may be a different case. I think I'll let him get used to you first. I've dropped enough bombs on him today anyway."

Another pause, longer than before and then Sakura said, "Sa-ku-ra. No more _mistress._"

Fujitaka raised his eyebrows in wonder. So he had been right. There was more to their relationship than they had been telling. He heard Sakura yawn.

"It appears its past your bedtime," Yue pointed out in a teasing tone.

"No. I'm fine. I'll rest tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to school and…"

There was silence and then Yue chuckled to himself saying, "I wonder when my job became making sure she got into bed at a reasonable hour."

Yue came out the room carrying Fujitaka's sleeping daughter. Fujitaka watched as the moon guardian's gaze went from Sakura to him. He was looking at him with a neutral expression, something Fujitaka had a feeling he'd just have to get used to, but Yue's eyes told a different story.

"Don't worry," Fujitaka said. "If Sakura's happy, I have nothing to say about your relationship with her. I know you'll take care of her. You seem to have done a good job in the last five years."

Yue didn't reply, but smiled slightly before continuing his way to take Sakura to her room. Fujitaka then headed to his own room to get some rest. He could get back to work later. He needed to rest after everything he had learned today. It was draining.

* * *

><p>It would have been a sight to see for any outsider to come in and see Kero sitting at the table enjoying his hot cakes without having to wait for everyone to leave or for Sakura to sneak him some up the stairs. Not only that, he was the only one at the table, having been attracted by the smell as soon as Fujitaka started breakfast.<p>

"Where's Sakura?" Fujitaka asked Kero who only smiled.

"Probably still asleep if she went out with Yue for a late night flight," Kero replied absently.

"Late night flight?"

"Yeah," Kero said. "You can relax though. It's nothing new. Happens at least three or four times a month."

"Three or four times?"

"Yeah. They'll go flying together, sit somewhere and talk, Sakura falls asleep and Yue brings her in late. The next morning Sakura wakes up late. Either that or she was up all night practicing magic, which I doubt since she's still pretty drained from last week," Kero added.

Fujitaka sweat dropped. Now that he knew what his daughter was up to, he would have to have a serious talk with her about late night flights with Yue and practicing magic on school nights. It certainly explained why she was so tired sometimes.

"Well if she doesn't get up soon, she's going to be-."

"HOOEE! I'm going to be late!"

"Right on cue," Kero said shaking his head as they heard Sakura rummaging around her room trying to get ready.

"Yue, it's not funny," they heard Sakura say fifteen minutes later as she came downstairs accompanied by the said moon guardian.

"I tried to tell you," Yue said as they both arrived in the kitchen. He was obviously fighting back a smile.

"Want anything?" Fujitaka asked.

"Toast," Sakura said getting a glass of juice.

"How about you Yue?"

"No thank you."

"Yue doesn't eat dad," Sakura reminded.

"It doesn't hurt to ask," Fujitaka said to her and then added, "Had a late night?"

"What makes you ask that?" Sakura asked as her bread popped out the toaster.

Fujitaka only smiled at her and said, "We'll talk about it later."

"Okay," Sakura said. "See you later."

Sakura ran out the kitchen and the sound of her opening and closing the door signaled her leaving. There was only problem, and Yue and Kero were staring at it sitting on the table.

"I'll go meet her outside," Yue said grabbing the backpack off the table as he went to the front door.

No sooner than he opened the door had Sakura come back having noticing that she left the bag. She blushed in embarrassment as she took it from him.

"Thank you Yue," she whispered as she put it on her back.

"You're welcome mistress," he said knowing it would bother her.

She looked behind him and then latched her arms around his neck.

"Sa-," a kiss, "-ku-," another kiss, "-ra," she finally said with a final, longer kiss.

Yue chuckled against her lips and said, "Sakura."

"Yes," she sighed with a content smile.

Yue initiated the kiss this time before saying, "You're going to be late."

Sakura pulled back and blinked, realizing that she was supposed to be on her way to school. She squeaked and immediately let go of Yue.

"Oh no. DASH," she yelled and then took off toward school.

Kero flew next to Yue and looked at the dirt that was settling after Sakura's mad dash to get to school on time.

"She still left her lunch," Kero pointed out holding the said meal. "Oh well. We shouldn't let it go to waste."

Yue took it from his brother and said, "I'll take it to her later."

Kero rolled his eyes. "Here we go again. It was the same way with Clow. I have to wonder if he would have remembered to sleep if it weren't for you."

Kero waited for the cold reply that would be followed by his brother being distant at the mention of their former master. He was surprised when Yue only shrugged and said, "Don't be jealous Cerberus. It's like you said. There's more to being a guardian than just protecting her. I'm just doing my duty."

"That and then some," Kero teased ducking Yue's hand. Inwardly, he was surprised Yue still remember when he said that. "Well it's true! Remember Yue. She's not even sixteen yet."

Yue didn't miss Kero that time.

**OWARI!**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I enjoyed writing this a lot. There were two main reasons for it. One was that I needed a break from star wars and the other was the fact that I noticed there were a lot of decent quality Yue/Sakura one shots, but not a lot of longer multi-chapter _completed_ stories. So I decided to contribute one, something that really explored the relationship and its growth instead of skipping to when she was a teenager and summing up the past few years (not to say that I haven't enjoyed stories that did that) I learned a lot writing this story that was just something I was writing to take a breather. I hope fans of the coupling enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it for them.

Now I want to say that there is a sequel in the works. And it's T rated, which means I'm back in my normal rating element. That means a lot more stuff will be going on. When will it be posted? Well, when I'm done writing it and after I write the sequel to one of my Star Wars stories. I think it's been feeling neglected. Give me two or three months though. Until then, here's your sneak peak:

"_Well why send a necklace? Why not just approach me and ask?"_

"_Marie's not a dumb woman," Yue said. "She realizes that if she were to just come and ask you, you'd be wary. That necklace is something of a dowry."_

_Sakura blinked. "A dowry…?"_

_That was something she heard often in those movies about sixteenth and seventeenth century England. When that usually came up, it usually had something to do with the terms of an engagement or…_

"_Does she have any sons or something?"_

"_And grandsons and great grandsons," Kero added seeing that Sakura had caught on._

"_You mean that necklace is part of some kind of proposal?" Sakura asked understanding why Yue had looked bothered when he saw the crest._

_Yue and Kero nodded. Sakura frowned and then snatched the necklace out Yue's hand and put it back in the box before setting it on the counter._

"_Erase, get rid of this necklace forever," she called out and in the next moment, the box faded away. "That takes care of that. As if I could be bought and flattered into a marriage…"_

"_That's what you say Sakura, but powerful families have allied and come to power through marriage. This isn't going to be the last proposal you get," Kero said. "And they're going to try everything, especially since you're Clow's heir and now that you're sixteen. They'll test your every heart's desire."_

_Sakura shrugged. "I don't care about those things though. What's the point of having it and being trapped in a loveless relationship for it?"_

_Sakura glanced at Yue who was strangely silent (even for him) with his arms crossed and staring out into space._

"_Hey Kero. I picked some groceries up from the store and left them at the door with my bag. Can you go get them for me?"_

"_Sure thing Sakura," Kero said flying out the room._

_When she was sure he was out of earshot, Sakura went up to Yue and touched his arm._

"_You know you have nothing to worry about right?" she asked._

"_I know. It still doesn't make it any less bothersome," Yue replied after a moment. He paused and then said, "You know other sorcerers and families are going to look down on you right?"_

"_Why? Because I won't accept some proposal?"_

"_No," Yue said slowly trying to figure out how to put it mildly. "Because they'll think you're lowering yourself to be with a creation."_

"_But I don't think-."_

"_I know," Yue said a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm just warning you. The world's bigger than the people you've already met."_

Remember, this scene is subject to change between now and me posting it. It's just to give you a general idea. The title on this is pending, but it's already planned out and I know what's going to happen. Just look out for it if you're interested.

So with that said, I hope you enjoyed reading this story and pardon any mistakes I've made or even any inconsistencies. I'll certainly do better next time. Until then though, Lady Dae out.

Hope you enjoyed! Review Please!


	14. Announcement and Sequel Preview

I don't normally do this, but because of the nature of this archive, I decided. But the sequel to this story has been posted. You can find it in my profile. It's called:

**Forces of Magic**

This title is simple but has a lot of symbolic meaning. Not to mention the story has a bunch of yummy Sakura/Yue goodness! Here's the first scene to wet your tongue.

"_So do you have any plans for the summer Sakura?"_

_The said girl looked up from where she was gathering her things to look at Rika. Sakura did have plans, but they were plans that involved magic and sorcery, nothing she could tell her other friends about. So she shrugged before saying to Rika, "Not really. I didn't have time to make any plans. There was a lot going on."_

_Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "That's a lie. Sakura's been too preoccupied with her boyfriend."_

"_Tomoyo!"_

"_It's true," Tomoyo sang._

_Sakura blushed. Maybe that was part of the truth too…_

"_You mean Yue?" Naoko asked._

"_We should go on a double date or something this summer," Chiharu suggested._

"_Maybe," Sakura said imagining the time she would have trying to convince Yue to agree to something like that._

"_It wouldn't hurt to ask him. He's not that shy is he?" Rika asked._

"_Yue's not shy. He just doesn't like being around people," Sakura corrected._

"_I'm sure you could convince him," said Tomoyo._

_Sakura sighed. She wasn't going to get any peace if she didn't at least agree to that. "I'll mention it."_

_That seemed to satisfy the girls, and Sakura continued to pack her bag, or rather started to anyway. She stared into it for a moment._

"_What?"_

"_This wasn't in my bag," Sakura said putting her books down and taking out a small box._

"_What is it?" all the girls asked crowding around Sakura who only shrugged and opened the box. They all gasped._

"_It's gorgeous!" Tomoyo said looking at the gold and diamond necklace._

"_Is it real?" Rika asked._

"_It has to be," Naoka said._

"_Who's it from?"_

_Sakura looked at the box. "It doesn't say."_

"_Aw," Naoka said. "Yue gave you a gift."_

_Sakura frowned and shook her head. "This isn't from Yue."_

"_How do you know?"_

"_This isn't Yue's style," Sakura replied although that wasn't the true reason (fully anyway). She would have known if it was from Yue. She would have felt his lingering energy on the necklace. "And it wasn't in my book bag all day. It appeared in my book bag like magic…"_

"_Oh come on Sakura. That's silly. It's had to be in there and you didn't see it," Chiharu replied. "I bet you have a secret admirer."_

"_But who is it that could afford a gift like that?" Naoka asked._

_Sakura didn't answer and closed the box, setting it down on the table so that she could pack her other stuff. She then grabbed the box and threw her book bag over her shoulder._

"_What are you going to do with it?"_

"_I'm not exactly sure," Sakura said putting a finger on the side of her face as she pondered it. "I just hope it really isn't from some secret admirer."_

"_Why? Scared of what your brother's going to do."_

"_No," Sakura muttered and then sighed before saying. "It's Yue I'm worried about…"_

So that's just a first scene, not the first chapter and I need some opinions, see how much traffic is coming through so I can determine whether I'll update once a week or twice a week. So check it out, leave feedback and I'll move forward from there.


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